TY  - JOUR
A1  - Sirak, Kendra
A1  - Fernandes, Daniel
A1  - Cheronet, Olivia
A1  - Harney, Eadaoin
A1  - Mah, Matthew
A1  - Mallick, Swapan
A1  - Rohland, Nadin
A1  - Adamski, Nicole
A1  - Broomandkhoshbacht, Nasreen
A1  - Callan, Kimberly
A1  - Candilio, Francesca
A1  - Lawson, Ann Marie
A1  - Mandl, Kirsten
A1  - Oppenheimer, Jonas
A1  - Stewardson, Kristin
A1  - Zalzala, Fatma
A1  - Anders, Alexandra
A1  - Bartík, Juraj
A1  - Coppa, Alfredo
A1  - Dashtseveg, Tumen
A1  - Évinger, Sándor
A1  - Farkaš, Zdeněk
A1  - Hajdu, Tamás
A1  - Bayarsaikhan, Jamsranjav
A1  - McIntyre, Lauren
A1  - Moiseyev, Vyacheslav
A1  - Okumura, Mercedes
A1  - Pap, Ildikó
A1  - Pietrusewsky, Michael
A1  - Raczky, Pál
A1  - Šefčáková, Alena
A1  - Soficaru, Andrei
A1  - Szeniczey, Tamás
A1  - Szőke, Béla Miklós
A1  - Van Gerven, Dennis
A1  - Vasilyev, Sergey
A1  - Bell, Lynne
A1  - Reich, David
A1  - Pinhasi, Ron
T1  - Human auditory ossicles as an alternative optimal source of ancient DNA
Y1  - 2020/03/01 
JF  - Genome Research 
JO  - Genome Research 
SP  - 427 
EP  - 436 
DO  - 10.1101/gr.260141.119 
VL  - 30 
IS  - 3 
UR  - http://genome.cshlp.org/content/30/3/427.abstract 
N2  - DNA recovery from ancient human remains has revolutionized our ability to reconstruct the genetic landscape of the past. Ancient DNA research has benefited from the identification of skeletal elements, such as the cochlear part of the osseous inner ear, that provides optimal contexts for DNA preservation; however, the rich genetic information obtained from the cochlea must be counterbalanced against the loss of morphological information caused by its sampling. Motivated by similarities in developmental processes and histological properties between the cochlea and auditory ossicles, we evaluate the ossicles as an alternative source of ancient DNA. We show that ossicles perform comparably to the cochlea in terms of DNA recovery, finding no substantial reduction in data quantity and minimal differences in data quality across preservation conditions. Ossicles can be sampled from intact skulls or disarticulated petrous bones without damage to surrounding bone, and we argue that they should be used when available to reduce damage to human remains. Our results identify another optimal skeletal element for ancient DNA analysis and add to a growing toolkit of sampling methods that help to better preserve skeletal remains for future research while maximizing the likelihood that ancient DNA analysis will produce useable results. 
ER  -