EXTRACTING DNA

1. Context

2. New Method of isolating DNA

• The method can isolate DNA that was present in skin cells, sweat or other bodily fluids and was absorbed by certain types of porous material including bones, teeth and tusks when handled by someone thousands of years ago.
• Objects used as tools or for personal adornment pendants, necklaces, bracelets rings and the like can offer insight into past behaviour and culture, though our understanding has been limited by an inability to tie a particular object to a particular person.
• These objects made in the deep past are extremely fascinating since they allow us to open a small window to travel back and have a glance into these people's lives.

Image source: CNN

3. Excavations

• The researchers who found the pendant which was determined to be 19, 000- 25, 000 years old, used gloves and face masks when excavating and handling it, avoiding contamination with modern DNA.
• It became the first prehistoric artefact linked by genetic sleuthing to a specific person. It is unknown whether the woman made or merely wore it.
• In holding such an artefact in her own gloved hands, she felt "transported back in time, imagining the human hands that had been created and used thousands of years ago.
• The pendant's maker drilled a hole in the tooth to allow for some sort of now-lost cordage. The tooth alternatively could have been part of a headband or bracelet.

4. The oldest object located by humans

• Our species Homo sapiens first arose more than 300, 000 years ago in Africa, later spreading worldwide.
• The oldest-known objects used as personal adornments date to about 100, 000 years ago from Africa.
• Denisova Cave long ago was inhabited at different times by the extinct human species called Denisovans, Neanderthals and our species.
• The cave over the years has yielded remarkable finds, including the first-known remains of Denisovans and various tools and other artefacts.
• The new non-destructive research technique used at a "clean room" laboratory in Leipzig works much like a washing machine.
• In this case, an artefact is immersed in a liquid that works to release DNA from it much as a washing machine lifts dirt from a blouse.
• By linking objects with particular people, the technique could shed light on prehistoric social roles and the division of labour between the sexes or clarify whether or not an object was even made by our Species. 
• Some artefacts have been found in places that are known to have been inhabited, for instance, by Homo Sapiens and  Neanderthals simultaneously.
• This study opens huge opportunities to better reconstruct the role of individuals in the past according to their sex and ancestry.