A startling discovery has reignited one of science’s oldest questions: where did life truly begin? Researchers analyzing a ...

This statement might sound like a line from a sci-fi movie, but what if life on Earth didn’t start here at all? For decades, ...

An interview with Hunt for the Oldest DNA director Niobe Thompson about chronicling Eske Willerslev's breakthrough research ...

The moment a creature dies, its DNA begins to break down. Half of it degrades every 521 years on average. By about 6.8 million years, even under ideal preservation conditions in cold, stable ...

In a spectacular bit of science, a group of scientists has sequenced the DNA from the femur of a man who died 45,000 years ago. The femur they studied is over 20 times older than this 2000 year old ...

Scientists were able to isolate the oldest human DNA yet, they announced today, but the 400,000-year-old genome sequence actually prompted more questions than it answered. Spain's a long way from ...

Ancient DNA from 238 individuals reveals a 10,000-year genetic lineage in Argentina, uncovering lost human history.

A well-preserved human skeleton that scientists recently excavated in Vietnam dates back about 12,000 years ago to the Ice Age and contains the oldest human mitochondrial DNA found in the region. It ...

DNA shines a light back into the past, showing us things that fossils can't. But how far back can that light extend? Some of the oldest DNA sequences come from mastodon and polar bear fossils about 50 ...

Every human face is unique, allowing us to distinguish between individuals. We know little about how facial features are ...