| Abstract: |
Herein, I discuss the limits and circumstances of DNA preservation in old fossils. The stability of DNA in physiological solution suggests that DNA should be degraded at the latest within 50 000100 000 years and has convincingly been found in fossil bones of this age. I argue here that particular fossilization conditions can cause exceptional DNA preservation over much longer periods, in an unexpected state. A working hypothesis is proposed stating that DNA can hibernatethat is, be preserved over long periodsonly if it is hidden within molecular niches where it is not governed by the rules of aqueous solution chemistry, and that such geological DNA cannot be puri.ed using procedures that assume that it behaves like biological DNA.
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