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		</div><p>The oldest genetic data ever to be recorded has been extracted from a 1.7 million-year-old rhino tooth.</p>
<p>Scientists said the feat sparks an evolution revolution that could solve some of the biggest mysteries of animal and human biology.</p>
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<p>Researchers identified an almost complete set of proteins, a proteome, in the dental enamel of the rhino.</p>
<p>The genetic information discovered is one million years older than 9k9the oldest DNA sequenced from a 700,000-year-old horse.</p>
<blockquote><p>This new analysis of ancient proteins from dental enamel will start an exciting new chapter in the study of molecular evolution</p></blockquote>
<p>The findings by scientists from the University of Copenhagen and St John’s College, University of Cambridge, are published in the Nature journal.</p>
<p>They said the breakthrough in the field of ancient biomolecular studies will allow researchers to accurately reconstruct evolution from further back in time than ever before.</p>
<p>First author Professor Enrico Cappellini, a specialist in palaeoproteomics at the Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, said: “For 20 years, ancient DNA has been used to address questions about the evolution of extinct species, adaptation and human migration but it has limitations.</p>
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<p>“Now, for the first time, we have retrieved ancient genetic information which allows us to reconstruct molecular evolution way beyond the usual time limit of DNA preservation.</p>
<p>“This new analysis of ancient proteins from dental enamel will start an exciting new chapter in the study of molecular evolution.”</p>
<p>Human evolution that is tracked by DNA only covers the last 400,000 years.</p>
<p>But the lineages that led to modern humans and to the chimp branched apart around six to seven million years ago.</p>
<p>This means scientists currently have no genetic information for more than 90% of the evolutionary path that led to modern humans.</p>
<p>They also do not know what the genetic links are between us and extinct species such as Homo erectus – the oldest known species of human to have had modern human-like body proportions.</p>
<p>As things stand, everything that is known is based almost exclusively on anatomical and not genetic information.</p>
<p>But researchers have now used ancient protein sequencing – based on groundbreaking technology called mass spectrometry – to retrieve genetic information from the tooth of a 1.77 million-year-old Stephanorhinus – an extinct rhinoceros which lived in Eurasia during the Pleistocene.</p>
<p>They took samples of dental enamel from the ancient fossil, which was discovered in Dmanisi, Georgia.</p>
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<p>Mass spectrometry was used to sequence the ancient protein and retrieved genetic information previously unobtainable using DNA testing.</p>
<p>Tooth enamel is the hardest material present in mammals, and the set of proteins it contains lasts longer than DNA and is more genetically informative than collagen, scientists said.</p>
<p>Professor Jesper Olsen, at the Novo Nordisk Foundation Centre for Protein Research, University of Copenhagen, said: “Mass spectrometry-based protein sequencing will enable us to retrieve reliable and rich genetic information from mammal fossils that are millions of years old, rather than just thousands of years old.</p>
<p>“It is the only technology able to provide the robustness and accuracy needed to sequence tiny amounts of protein this old.”</p>
<p>Lead author on the paper Professor Eske Willerslev, who holds positions at St John’s College, University of Cambridge, said: “This research is a game-changer that opens up a lot of options for further evolutionary study in terms of humans as well as mammals.</p>
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<p>“It will revolutionise the methods of investigating evolution based on molecular markers and it will open a complete new field of ancient biomolecular studies.”</p>
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