Ancient DNA damage
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Updated: May 10, 2026

Proximity Ligand Assay to Localize Proteins in DNA Damage Sites
Published on: August 2, 2024
Jesse Dabney1, Matthias Meyer, Svante Pääbo
1Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103 Leipzig, Germany. jesse_dabney@eva.mpg.de
Abstract:
Under favorable conditions DNA can survive for thousands of years in the remains of dead organisms. The DNA extracted from such remains is invariably degraded to a small average size by processes that at least partly involve depurination. It also contains large amounts of deaminated cytosine residues that are accumulated toward the ends of the molecules, as well as several other lesions that are less well characterized.
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