According to a paper published in Nature, researchers recently found fragments of Ice Age DNA in sediment samples taken from northern Greenland. Tracing back to two million years ago, these fragments are a million years older than any others on record, and they expose an ancient ecosystem capable of enduring extreme climate conditions.
“A new chapter spanning one million extra years of history has finally been opened,” says Eske Willerslev, a paper author and a director of the Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Centre at the University of Copenhagen, according to a press release.
In fact, the researchers assert that these fragments — in addition to explaining ancient environments — could play a part in forecasting the future of modern climate change. More than that, they add that the DNA could also contribute to making today's most threatened species more resilient to the increasingly severe climate conditions to come.
