SEQUENCING EXTINCT GENOMES

The cellular organic molecules which hold clues to the evolution of various animal and hominid taxa, such as DNA and proteins, are comparatively weak molecules from other cellular debris and thus evolutionary biology has been time trapped. Fortunately DNA and protein fragments do exist in fossil remains beyond what theoretical experimentation would suggest. Sequestering of DNA molecules in humic or Maillard like complexes likely represents a rich source of DNA molecules from the past, that have yet to be tapped. These molecules were impossible to acquire due to the selective nature of Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). Recently however rapid parallel pyrosequencing techniques, such as those used in Metagenomics based research, which allow for in theory, the identification of all short nucleotide sequences in a sample in a non-selective approach has the potential to allow the identification of all nucleic acids in a sample and thus represents the way forward for ancient DNA. In theory this new technology will allow the completion of genomes of extinct animals, plants and microbes. I will discuss the benefits and pitfalls of this metagenomics approach to ancient DNA, highlighting our recent efforts underway to sequence the Wooly Mammoth genome as well as other fossil remains.