World’s Oldest DNA Discovered; Past Record Broken by 1 Million Years

World’s oldest DNA discovered till date was found in Ice Age sediments of northern Greenland. Scientists claimed that this DNA was two-million-year-old. This newly discovered DNA will be a major eye-opener for researchers of the history of evolution.

It was microscopic fragments of environmental DNA preserved in permafrost, not disturbed by humans for two million years. These fragments are one million years older than the previous record for DNA sampled from a Siberian mammoth bone.

Professor Eske Willerslev from St John’s College at the University of Cambridge wrote in a paper published in Nature, “A new chapter spanning one million extra years of history has finally been opened and for the first time, we can look directly at the DNA of a past ecosystem that far back in time. We can now go back further in time than anyone could have dared imagine.”

The climate in Greenland at that time was 10-17 degree Celsius warmer than what Greenland is today. Evidence of a variety of ancient plants, animals, and microorganisms are also discovered in Greenland. Mastodon, an Ice Age mammal, roamed in Greenland before it became extinct.