Abstract
Paleogenetics is a rapidly growing area of investigation; it is based on the recognition that DNA, although degraded, persists in tissues long after the death of an organism. These DNA fragments can be recovered, characterized, and used to investigate a variety of questions about prehistoric populations, paleoenvironments, pathogen evolution, and the evolutionary mechanisms that structured genetic variation in the past. The earliest ancient DNA analyses were conducted on preserved soft tissue from extinct organisms and mummified human remains. Laboratory techniques improved and the field quickly adopted the new technique of polymerase chain reaction, while pivoting to samples from hard tissue like bone and teeth. In the years leading up to 2010, the field was again at the forefront of using new technology by incorporating next generation sequencing. As costs have declined, newer studies are using genomic analytical methods to characterize whole genomes, so that the term “paleogenomics” is now in common usage.
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