Pet DNA

[Jackal]

How long can DNA survive off of a pet? Whether it be shed fur or fur clipped from the animal?

[Moontanman]

DNA has been recovered from animals extinct for many thousands of years....

[ecoli]

DNA has been recovered from animals extinct for many thousands of years....

 

That doesn't seem to be the rule for animal DNA however. Has a complete genome been found for any extinct animal? These molecules tend to degrade over time even when kept under sufficient conditions of cold. Plus there's the challenge of differentiating specimen DNA from DNA found in the environment (from bacteria, mostly).

[Moontanman]

That doesn't seem to be the rule for animal DNA however. Has a complete genome been found for any extinct animal? These molecules tend to degrade over time even when kept under sufficient conditions of cold. Plus there's the challenge of differentiating specimen DNA from DNA found in the environment (from bacteria, mostly).

 

Well the woolly mammoth comes to mind

 

 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081119140712.htm

 

Tasmanian tiger

 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090112201131.htm

 

The field seems to be opening wide...

[ecoli]

quoted from the first link:

 

Although their dataset consists of more than four-billion DNA bases, only 3.3 billion of them -- a little over the size of the human genome currently can be assigned to the mammoth genome.

 

Which is what I mentioned.