That half-life is obviously applicable only at a given temperature and at a given humidity, because water or similar substances are required to hydrolize, i.e. break, the bonds between nucleotides.
If the DNA molecule is immobilized in a solid, either by freezing or by extreme drying, the half-life will be much longer.
That half-life was for bird bones preserved at 13.1 Celsius degrees.
Even in this paper it was mentioned that at minus 5 Celsius degrees some information from the DNA should remain even after 1 million years.
Unfortunately, there are very few, if any, places on Earth where ancient DNA would have the chance to be preserved for a long time either by freezing or by extreme drying.
Look at the link! Claim of possible DNA from a dinosaur. It’s a bold claim (although carefully caveated) but doesn’t seem crackpot to me, especially considering there are other surviving macromolecules like proteins in soft tissue from dinosaurs.
https://academic.oup.com/nsr/article/7/4/815/5762999?login=f...
adrian_b|4 years ago
If the DNA molecule is immobilized in a solid, either by freezing or by extreme drying, the half-life will be much longer.
That half-life was for bird bones preserved at 13.1 Celsius degrees.
Even in this paper it was mentioned that at minus 5 Celsius degrees some information from the DNA should remain even after 1 million years.
Unfortunately, there are very few, if any, places on Earth where ancient DNA would have the chance to be preserved for a long time either by freezing or by extreme drying.
Robotbeat|4 years ago