World’s oldest DNA sequenced from million-year-old mammoths

科學家從百萬年猛獁象定序全球最古老DNA

【摘要2021.3.8.自由】◎陳成良

Teeth from mammoths buried in the Siberian permafrost for more than a million years have yielded the world’s oldest DNA ever sequenced, according to a study published on Wednesday, shining the genetic searchlight into the deep past.

據週三公布的研究，埋在西伯利亞永凍土層超過100萬年的猛獁象牙齒，提供全球最古老的去氧核醣核酸（DNA）定序，讓基因研究的探照燈指向遙遠的過去。

Researchers said the three specimens, one roughly 800,000 years old and two over a million years old, provide important insights into the giant Ice Age mammals, including the ancient heritage of the woolly mammoth.

研究人員表示，這3個樣本，一個約有80萬年歷史，另2個來自超過100萬年前，為現代人瞭解冰河時代猛獁象，包括「真長毛象」（woolly mammoth）的古老傳承，提供重要觀察角度。

The genomes far exceed the oldest previously sequenced DNA － a horse dating between 780,000 to 560,000 years ago.

此前，最古老的DNA定序來自78萬年前到56萬年前的一匹馬，而這些猛獁象基因組的年代更久遠得多。

The mammoths were originally discovered in the 1970s in Siberia and held at the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow.

這幾頭猛獁象起初於1970年代在西伯利亞地區被發現，由莫斯科的俄羅斯科學院保管。

新聞辭典

permafrost：名詞，（如極地的）永久凍土；多年凍土。例句：Permafrost still covers the area, but it’s starting to thaw.（凍土仍然覆蓋該地區，但它開始解凍。）

yield：動詞，產出、屈服、讓步；名詞，報酬、產量。例句：Our performance yields to nobody.（我們的表現不亞於任何人。）

specimen：名詞，樣品；標本；樣本。例句：It was a specimen of his generosity.（這是他慷慨大度的實例。）