ArticleiScience2021
Ancient DNA diffuses from human bones to cave stones.
Article in iScience, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 14 citations in OpenAlex.
- De novo assembly and authentication of ancient DNA metagenomes with nf-core/mag.PLoS computational biology · 2026Article
- A Roadmap for Using Hybridisation Capture-Based Target Enrichment of Ancient Environmental DNA in Palaeoecology.Molecular ecology resources · 2026Review
- Ground squirrel coprolites preserve complex archives of ancient environmental DNA over 700,000 years.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Ancient environmental genome reveals a migratory brown bear individual in Early Holocene Scandinavia.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Reconstruction of 1,979 prokaryotic metagenome-assembled genomes from 37 global cave environments.Scientific data · 2025Article
- Bone Adhered Sediments as a Source of Target and Environmental DNA and Proteins.Molecular biology and evolution · 2025Article
- Article
- Unraveling the ancient fungal DNA from the Iceman gut.BMC genomics · 2024Article
- A nontuberculous mycobacterium could solve the mystery of the lady from the Franciscan church in Basel, Switzerland.BMC biology · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Recent studies have demonstrated the potential to recover ancient human mitochondrial DNA and nuclear DNA from cave sediments. However, the source of such sedimentary ancient DNA is still under discussion. Here we report the case of a Bronze Age human skeleton, found in a limestone cave, which was covered with layers of calcite stone deposits. By analyzing samples representing bones and stone deposits from this cave, we were able to: i) reconstruct the full human mitochondrial genome from the bones and the stones (same haplotype); ii) determine the sex of the individual; iii) reconstruct six ancient bacterial and archaeal genomes; and finally iv) demonstrate better ancient DNA preservation in the stones than in the bones. Thereby, we demonstrate the direct diffusion of human DNA from bones into the surrounding environment and show the potential to reconstruct ancient microbial genomes from such cave deposits, which represent an additional paleoarcheological archive resource.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.