Paleoproteomics can go where DNA cannot 🌴 Hot tropical sites like Indonesia have almost no DNA preservation, but proteins survive. This could help identify Homo erectus and Denisovan remains, and clarify relationships between early humans, Paranthropus, and Lucy (Australopithecus). The future of human evolution research! 👤
Future: protein analysis to map human evolution
Key facts
- Paleoproteomics can peer into human evolution deeper than ancient DNA
- For fossils 100,000-300,000 years old, protein preservation is much better
- Recent Denisovan identifications used protein analysis
- Hot tropical regions like Indonesia have almost no DNA preservation
- This technique could help identify Homo erectus and Denisovan remains in Indonesia
- The method could determine relationships between hominin species like Paranthropus, early Homo, and Australopithecines (Lucy)
- More recent fossils can provide information on sub-populations within species
Sources
Ancient proteins illuminate deep-time species evolutionscience.uct.ac.za
Palaeoproteomics is the study of ancient proteins. These are 'mined' from mineralised fossil remains such as bone, teeth, and eggshell.
Paleoproteomics - Unleashing the proteome of the ancient worldnautilus.bio
DNA rarely survives longer than ten thousand years. New applications of proteomics could reveal insights much further back.
Paleoproteomics Offers a Look into the Deep Past - Lab Managerlabmanager.com
With paleoproteomics, researchers can study artifacts from deeper in time, and gain more detailed insights than from aDNA or other biomolecular ...
Paleoproteomics - PubMedpubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Paleoproteomics, the study of ancient proteins, is a rapidly growing field at the intersection of molecular biology, paleontology, archaeology, paleoecology, ...
Paleoproteomics - CENIEHcenieh.es
Through the application of molecular techniques, we can investigate the evolutionary history of fossils where the DNA is not preserved. This novel discipline ...
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