DNA is found in ancient living bacteria

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Aug. 28 (UPI) -- An international team of Danish-led scientists has, for the first time, extracted DNA from living bacteria that are more than 500,000 years old.

The team, led by University of Copenhagen Professor Eske Willerslev, said its discovery might lead to a better understanding of cell aging and might cast light on the question of life on Mars.

The discovery was made in permafrost excavated in Canada, Siberia and Antarctica.

"Other researchers (have) tried to uncover the life of the past and the following evolutionary development by focusing on cells that are in a state of dead-like lethargy," said Willerslev. "We, on the other hand, have found a method that makes is possible to extract and isolate DNA-traces from cells that are still active. It gives a more precise picture of the past life and the evolution toward the present because we are dealing with cells that still have a metabolistic function, unlike 'dead' cells where that function has ceased."

The research that included scientists from Lund University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Murdoch University, the Russian Academy of Sciences and the University of Alberta appears in the Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences.