The lost world: an ecosystem from two million years ago is reconstructed with DNA

Small fragments of a few millionths of a millimeter have made it possible to rebuild an ecosystem that existed

.

Tiny pieces of genetic material, present in samples of quartz and clay unearthed in

located at the mouth of a fjord, in the northernmost point of Greenland.

The discovery opens a new chapter in the study of the past, as it involves genetic information

(until now the record was held by material extracted from a Siberian mammoth bone).

The scientific effort to sequence these fragments has involved

and their results are featured on the cover of the latest issue of the journal

.

First, the researchers needed to detect the presence of DNA in the sediment and determine if they could separate it for analysis;

The scientists then compared each fragment against

collected from living animals, plants, and microorganisms to find complete or partial matches.

Thus, an open boreal forest began to appear with a mixed vegetation of

(a genus of conifers from the cypress family).

The 41 samples, coming from five different points, also made it possible to identify

.

They have even found remains of mastodons (

), an extinct mammal similar to the elephant, whose presence so far north has surprised scientists.

DNA could also be recovered from some marine animals, notably an Atlantic crab (

), as well as from various microorganisms.

"The samples were found buried deep, in sediments accumulated over 20,000 years," says

, a professor at the Lundbeck Foundation Center for Geogenetics at the University of Copenhagen and one of the first authors of the paper in

.

"That sediment ended up being preserved in ice and permafrost and, most importantly,

."

Although the area (called Kap København) is currently a polar desert, previous research had already established that it

more than two million years ago, with temperatures 11-19°C above today.

However, the biological communities that inhabited the Arctic at that time remain poorly understood because vertebrate fossils so remote are scarce.

The researchers also hope that the results will help to learn more about the

long-term

Professor Eske Willerslev and a colleague collect sediment samples in Greenland.NOVA, HHMI Tangled Bank Studios & Handful of Films

In fact, studying discovered plant DNA may provide clues to making some endangered species more resilient.

The fact that the

ecosystem existed with temperatures considerably higher than the current ones provides information on the evolution and adaptation of the species to climatic variations, although the authors clarify that it is

compared to the current global warming.

"It is possible that genetic engineering could mimic the strategies developed by plants and trees two million years ago to survive in a climate characterized by rising temperatures and prevent the extinction of some species," says Kjær.

"That's one of the reasons why this scientific breakthrough is so significant, as it

."

The authors explain that some of the DNA fragments have been easy to classify as belonging to ancestors of current species, in others it has only been possible to establish a relationship of kinship with current genera and some come from

in DNA libraries. .

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The researchers also found genetic presence of a wide range of microorganisms, including bacteria and fungi.

between animals, plants and unicellular organisms worked biologically

should be presented in a future work .

The sequencing of such remote material opens up new possibilities for study in multiple scientific disciplines.

"

, such as those that prevailed during the period the material was deposited at Kap København," says

, director of the Lundbeck Foundation Center for Geogenetics at the University of Copenhagen. professor at the University of Cambridge and lead author of the article.

"Now that we have managed to extract ancient DNA from clay and quartz, it is possible that these materials have preserved ancient DNA in hot and humid environments in deposits found in Africa;

, perhaps may even provide new insights into early humans and their ancestors."

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