Since the arrival of the technology that permitted to recover and study
ancient genetic material 30 years ago, its success has enjoyed steady growth, providing
answers to a huge variety of fields, from personal identification to a better
understanding of ancient human behavior, as well as the intricated evolution of our
species or the recovery of genetic material from extinct ones. However, this field has
also been accompanied by some handicaps which have complicated its improvement,
as the damage that the individuals may have suffered over time and most notoriously
contamination. A brief synthesis of the principal landmarks in this field’s history and
the steps taken to overcome these problems are exposed in detail.
Keywords: Ancient diseases, Ancient DNA, Contamination, Damage,
Diagenesis, Endogenous DNA, Extinct species, Forensic identification, Human
history, Identification, Kinship, PCR, Putrefaction, Storing conditions.
