Researchers have discovered tiny fragments of 2 million-year-old DNA trapped within frozen layers of Arctic sediment.
Key points
- The ancient genetic material, which is the oldest ever discovered, has provided a glimpse of a previously unknown ecosystem of Arctic.
- Since 2006, researchers have uncovered 41 samples of DNA within a 328-foot-deep (100 meters) slab of sediment at the Kap København Formation in northern Greenland.
- The genetic fragments, known as environmental DNA, were left by plants, animals and microbes that once lived in the area and have been perfectly preserved by permafrost and ice.
- The scientists found genetic traces of elephant-like mastodons, reindeer and geese that roamed among birch and poplar trees, and of marine life including horseshoe crabs and algae.
Environmental DNA
- Environmental DNA (e-DNA) is genetic material that is shed from plants and animals – for example, from skin cells or droppings – and accumulates in their surroundings.
- e-DNA a technique that’s now widely used in conservation. For example, studying the DNA found in a drop of sea water can reveal all of the creatures that have lived in a patch of ocean, even if you can’t see the individual animals yourself.
