The half-life of DNA in bone: measuring decay kinetics in 158 dated fossils
University of Copenhagen · Murdoch University · +6 more institutions
Abstract
Claims of extreme survival of DNA have emphasized the need for reliable models of DNA degradation through time. By analysing mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from 158 radiocarbon-dated bones of the extinct New Zealand moa, we confirm empirically a long-hypothesized exponential decay relationship. The average DNA half-life within this geographically constrained fossil assemblage was estimated to be 521 years for a 242 bp mtDNA sequence, corresponding to a per nucleotide fragmentation rate (k) of 5.50 × 10(-6) per year. With an effective burial temperature of 13.1°C, the rate is almost 400 times slower than predicted from published kinetic data of in vitro DNA depurination at pH 5. Although best described by an…
Citation impact
- FWCI
- 20.64
- Percentile
- 100%
- References
- 71
Authors
14Topics & keywords
- Kinetics
- Paleontology
- Evolutionary biology
- Geology
- Biology
- Physics