Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 12, 2026

Optimized Bone Sampling Protocols for the Retrieval of Ancient DNA from Archaeological Remains
Published on: November 30, 2021
Taming the Past: Ancient DNA and the Study of Animal Domestication
David E MacHugh1,2, Greger Larson3, Ludovic Orlando4,5
1Animal Genomics Laboratory, UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin, Dublin 4, Ireland;
Abstract:
During the last decade, ancient DNA research has been revolutionized by the availability of increasingly powerful DNA sequencing and ancillary genomics technologies, giving rise to the new field of paleogenomics. In this review, we show how our understanding of the genetic basis of animal domestication and the origins and dispersal of livestock and companion animals during the Upper Paleolithic and Neolithic periods is being rapidly transformed through new scientific knowledge generated with paleogenomic methods. These techniques have been particularly informative in revealing high-resolution patterns of artificial and natural selection and evidence for significant admixture between early domestic animal populations and their wild congeners.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Synteny and Evolution
Around 80 million years ago, the human and mice lineages diverged from the common ancestor. During the course of evolution, the ancestral...
The Central Dogma
RNA is the Missing Link Between DNA and Proteins
In the early 1900s, scientists discovered that DNA stores all the information needed for cellular functions and that proteins perform most of these functions. However, the mechanisms of converting genetic information into functional proteins remained unknown for many years. Initially, it was believed that a single gene is...
Animal Mitochondrial Genetics
Evolutionary Relationships through Genome Comparisons
Eukaryotic Evolution
Contrary to the endosymbiont theory, the eukaryote-first hypothesis proposes that the simpler prokaryotic and...
What is Evolutionary History?

