Ancient DNA Analysis

aDNA degradation patterns, damage modeling, and population genetics

Sample Age: 5,000 yr BP
Temperature: 10 °C (burial)
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12.4
% DNA Surviving
34.2
% C→T Damage (5' end)
52
Mean Read Length (bp)
2.1
% Contamination Est.

About Ancient DNA Analysis

Ancient DNA (aDNA) degrades over time through hydrolysis (breaking phosphodiester bonds, causing fragmentation) and oxidative damage. The hallmark signature of authentic aDNA is cytosine deamination — C→T misincorporations that accumulate preferentially at the 5' ends of DNA fragments (and G→A at 3' ends), as described by the MapDamage model. Cold, dry, permafrost conditions dramatically slow degradation: DNA has been recovered from 700,000-year-old permafrost horse bones. Population genetic studies using aDNA (e.g., from Reich Lab, Copenhagen) have revealed multiple waves of migration that populated Europe, including Yamnaya steppe pastoralists ~5,000 BP transforming Bronze Age ancestry.