Reply to Stoneking: ancient DNA--how do you really know when you have it?

A Cooper

Abstract readCommentLetter

In one paragraph

Article in American journal of human genetics, 1997. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it

0cells of the map it votes in

7citing papers in PubMed

–field-weighted citation impact

1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed.

Destructive and Non-Destructive Methods for aDNA Isolation from Teeth and Their Analysis: A Comparison.Genes · 2025
Article
The petrous bone contains high concentrations of osteocytes: One possible reason why ancient DNA is better preserved in this bone.PloS one · 2022
Article
Introduction. Ancient DNA: the first three decades.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2015
Article
Re-inventing ancient human DNA.Investigative genetics · 2015
Article
Genotyping human ancient mtDNA control and coding region polymorphisms with a multiplexed Single-Base-Extension assay: the singular maternal history of the Tyrolean Iceman.BMC genetics · 2009
Article
Ancient DNA.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2005
Review
Distribution patterns of postmortem damage in human mitochondrial DNA.American journal of human genetics · 2003
Article

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

Comment on
Ancient DNA: how do you know when you have it and what can you do with it?1995

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

1 author.

A Cooper

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

PubMed holds no abstract for this paper.

Indexed as

Bone and BonesFossilsArchaeologyArtifactsDNAGene AmplificationGeneticsHumansDNA

Identifiers

PMID9106549

PMCPMC1712466

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata

Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.