Advances in environmental genome extraction-all you need is a handful of soil!

The Satsurblia cave was inhabited by humans in different periods of the Paleolithic age: to date, an individual human being 15,000 years ago has been sorted from the site

The innovative method adopted by the international team of Professor Ron Pinhasi and Professor Pere Gelabert in collaboration with the University of Vienna Susanna Sawyer and others allows the identification of DNA in environmental material samples through the application of extensive sequencing and huge data analysis resources

This new method proves the feasibility of restoring the human environmental genome without skeletal remains

In addition to the confirmed human genome, other genomes such as wolves and bison have also been found in environmental samples

The research team now plans to conduct further analysis of the soil samples from the Sat Subia Cave, with the aim of revealing the interaction between extinct animals and humans and the impact of climate change on mammalian populations

With the continuous improvement of genome extraction technology, scientists are now able to extract DNA from water, soil and even air.

Genome-scale sequencing and analysis of human, wolf, and bison DNA from 25,000-year-old sediment

# # #