Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Ancient DNA

Towards a million-year-old genome

The sequencing of a complete horse genome from a bone dating to around 700,000 years ago sheds light on equine evolution and dramatically extends the known limit of DNA survival. See Letter p.74

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Horse origins.
Figure 2: Survival of the coldest.

Notes

  1. *This article and the paper under discussion2 were published online on 26 June 2013.

References

  1. Higuchi, R. B., Bowman, B., Freiberger, M., Ryder, O. A. & Wilson, A. C. Nature 312, 282–284 (1984).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Orlando, L. et al. Nature 499, 74–78 (2013).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Meyer, M. et al. Science 338, 222–226 (2012).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Simpson, G. G. The Meaning of Evolution (Yale Univ. Press, 1949).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Lindahl, T. Nature 362, 709–715 (1993).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Pääbo, S. et al. Annu. Rev. Genet. 38, 645–679 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Allentoft, M. E. et al. Proc. R. Soc. B 279, 4724–4733 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Wood, B. & Collard, M. Science 284, 65–71 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Rightmire, G. P. Evol. Anthropol. 6, 218–227 (1998).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Green, R. E. et al. Science 328, 710–722 (2010).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Miller, W. et al. Nature 456, 387–390 (2008).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Craig D. Millar or David M. Lambert.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Millar, C., Lambert, D. Towards a million-year-old genome. Nature 499, 34–35 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12263

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12263

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing: Translational Research

Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Translational Research newsletter — top stories in biotechnology, drug discovery and pharma.

Get what matters in translational research, free to your inbox weekly. Sign up for Nature Briefing: Translational Research