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The first discovery of Mesozoic DNA was claimed by Cano and his team (see video).[1] They claimed that they had extracted and sequenced two DNA fragments from a 120-135-million-year-old weevil (Lebanorhinus succinus).

One fragment was never put into any Gene database. It did appear in the original article.

CGTCTCCGTA GTGAACCTGC GGAGGGATCA TTTATTCGGT TGCATCAACC
AGGCAATCTT CGGATTGTCT GCAACCACTG ACATTGTCGA GGGGTCAACA
TTGGAATGGT GTATTTTTAA TTTAATTCTA TCTTTACATG TGAGACACAA
TTTTGAATTA ATCTTCAAAA CTTTCAACAA CGGATCTCTT GGTTCTCGCA
TCGATGAAGA ACGCAGCAAA CTGGGT

Controversy[]

Scientists in 1998 found that this sequence was more similar to fungal DNA than weevil DNA.[2]

A BLAST search against the entire GenBank shows it has 93% similarity with Meyerozyma guilliermondii and 91% similarity with Pichia guilliermondii. Both species are part of the yeast order Saccharomycetales.

References[]

  1. Cano R.J., Poinar H.N., Pieniazek N.J., Acra A., Poinar G.O. Jr. (1993) Amplification and sequencing of DNA from a 120-135-million-year-old weevil. Nature, Volume 363(6429), page 536-8.
  2. Gutierrez G., Marın A., (1998) The Most Ancient DNA Recovered from an Amber-Preserved Specimen May Not Be as Ancient as It Seems. Mol. Biol. Evol., Volume 15(7), page 926–929.
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