An illustration of the ancient lineage of steppe mammoths, which led to the wooly mammoths that roamed the Arctic (Credit: Beth Zaiken/Center For Palaeogenetics)
A team of Swedish scientists has successfully extracted and reconstructed the world s oldest DNA from the tooth of a Siberian mammoth, which roamed Earth over a million years ago. Also known as deoxyribonucleic acid, the all-important molecule which contains the genetic instructions for the development and function of living things. provides new insights into the evolution of the ancient Ice Age giants. Prior to this, the oldest DNA sequenced came from the bone of a horse that trotted around Canada about 700,000 years ago.
World s oldest-ever DNA recovered from teeth of frozen woolly mammoth
Ancient mammoth DNA that sheds new light the iconic beasts has been recovered from the remains of three individuals that lived in Siberia over a million years ago
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Million-year-old mammoth teeth yield world s oldest DNA nationalgeographic.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from nationalgeographic.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Scientists have taken a significant step toward understanding mammoths by sequencing the world s oldest DNA. The DNA was sequenced from molars of three different mammoths.