Canadian Scientists Retrieve DNA of Extinct Animals from Soil

Vials containing engineered DNA(Getty Images)
Vials containing engineered DNA(Getty Images)
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Canadian Scientists Retrieve DNA of Extinct Animals from Soil

Vials containing engineered DNA(Getty Images)
Vials containing engineered DNA(Getty Images)

Researchers at McMaster University have developed a new technique to tease ancient DNA from soil, pulling the genomes of hundreds of animals and thousands of plants which many of them are long extinct.

The DNA extraction method, outlined in the journal Quarternary Research, allows scientists to reconstruct the most advanced picture ever of environments that existed thousands of years ago.

According to a report published by the University of McMaster, this technique retrieves the ancient DNA by using the cells constantly shed by organisms throughout their lives.

"Organisms are constantly shedding cells throughout their lives. Humans, for example, shed some half a billion skin cells every day. Much of this genetic material is quickly degraded, but some small fraction is safeguarded for millennia through sedimentary mineral-binding and is out there waiting for us to recover and study it. Now, we can conduct some remarkable research by recovering an immense diversity of environmental DNA from very small amounts of sediment, and in the total absence of any surviving biological tissues," explained evolutionary geneticist Hendrik Poinar, a lead author on the paper.

The researchers used their technique to analyze soil samples from four sites in the Yukon region, each representing different points in the Pleistocene-Halocene transition, which occurred approximately 11,000 years ago.

This transition featured the extinction of a large number of animal species such as mammoths, mastodons and ground sloths, and the new process has yielded some surprising new information about the way events unfolded.

"In the Yukon samples, we found the genetic remnants of a vast array of animals, including mammoths, horses, bison, reindeer and thousands of varieties of plants. The scientists determined that woolly mammoths and horses were likely still present in the Yukon's Klondike region as recently as 9,700 years ago, thousands of years later than previous research using fossilized remains had suggested," Poinar said.



Unusual Bee Attack in French Town Leaves 24 Injured, 3 Critically

A bee sits on a flower that is planted to decorate at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London, Sunday, June 29, 2025.(AP Photo/Joanna Chan)
A bee sits on a flower that is planted to decorate at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London, Sunday, June 29, 2025.(AP Photo/Joanna Chan)
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Unusual Bee Attack in French Town Leaves 24 Injured, 3 Critically

A bee sits on a flower that is planted to decorate at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London, Sunday, June 29, 2025.(AP Photo/Joanna Chan)
A bee sits on a flower that is planted to decorate at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London, Sunday, June 29, 2025.(AP Photo/Joanna Chan)

A unusual attack by bees in the French town of Aurillac has left 24 people injured, including three in critical condition, according to local authorities.

The Prefecture of Cantal, in south-central France, said passersby were stung over a period of about 30 minutes on Sunday morning. Firefighters and medical teams were rushed to the scene to treat the victims while police set up a security perimeter until the bees stopped their attack.

The three people in critical condition were evacuated to a local hospital, The Associated Press reported.

Pierre Mathonier, the mayor of Aurillac, told French broadcaster France 3 the incident may have been related to Asian hornets threatening beehives that had been installed on the roof terrace of a downtown hotel over 10 years ago. He said that this had likely caused the bees to become aggressive.

“All ended well,” he said. "The emergency services were perfectly coordinated. There was no panic in Aurillac, but a number of people were stung.”