Mulligan Connie J
Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, USA.
Methods Enzymol. 2005;395:87-103. doi: 10.1016/S0076-6879(05)95007-6.
The use of ancient DNA (aDNA) in the reconstruction of population origins and evolution is becoming increasingly common. Novel methods exist for the isolation, purification, and analysis of aDNA because these DNA templates are likely to be damaged, fragmented and?or associated with non-nucleic acid material. However, contamination of ancient specimens and DNA extracts with modern DNA is more widespread than is generally acknowledged and remains a significant problem in aDNA analysis. Studies of human aDNA are uniquely sensitive to contamination due to the continual presence of potential contamination sources. Meticulous authentication of results and careful selection of polymorphic markers capable of distinguishing between aDNA and probable DNA contaminants are critical to a successful aDNA study.
利用古DNA（aDNA）重建种群起源和进化的研究正变得越来越普遍。由于这些DNA模板可能受损、片段化和/或与非核酸物质相关联，因此存在用于aDNA分离、纯化和分析的新方法。然而，古代样本和DNA提取物被现代DNA污染的情况比普遍认为的更为普遍，并且仍然是aDNA分析中的一个重大问题。由于潜在污染源的持续存在，人类aDNA研究对污染尤为敏感。对结果进行细致的验证以及谨慎选择能够区分aDNA和可能的DNA污染物的多态性标记，对于成功开展aDNA研究至关重要。
