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Scientists from the University of Copenhagen, in collaboration with colleagues from the CENIEH (National Research Center on Human Evolution) in Burgos, Spain, and other institutions, have retrieved genetic information from an 800,000-year-old human fossil for the first time. Their study is published in the journal Nature.





Fresh eyes on an ancient problem





Spotlight on paleoproteomics

Skeletal remains of Homo antecessor. Credit: Prof. José María Bermúdez de Castro.



I asked Welker how the analysis of proteins via MS overcomes the limitations of DNA analysis. He told me that: "DNA breaks up into smaller pieces quicker than proteins do. As a result, protein sequences survive longer than DNA. As the protein sequence is coded for by the genome, the protein sequence itself can also harbor some genetic information. In this case, we are able to study the evolutionary relationships between ancient human species even in the absence of DNA preservation of one of them (H. antecessor)."





Homo antecessor a sister group





Frido Welker, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, was speaking to Molly Campbell, Science Writer, Technology Networks.



Reference: Welker et al. (2020).