World's Oldest DNA Sequence May Reveal More about Ancient Ancestors

The world's oldest DNA sequences may reveal the most ancient animal ancestors. Scientists have discovered 700 million year-old DNA sequences from ancient animals that shed new light on our earliest animal ancestors.

In this latest study, the researchers discovered highly conserved sequences in non-coding DNA by analyzing the genome sequences of 12 different insects. They identified a set of 322 non-coding DNA regions which have been evolutionarily preserved for at least 180 million years.

The ancient sequences were actually found to be present in a wide variety of modern animals, including insects, mammals, reptiles, jellyfish and even our distant animal ancestor, the sponge.

The youngest sequences uncovered were found to be present in bees, ants, and wasps. The two oldest sequences have been conserved for at least 670 million years, which makes them among the oldest regulatory DNA sequences of which we know, and would have been present in some of our earliest ancestors.

"We are extremely excited about identifying these ancient DNA elements," said Eran Tauber, one of the researchers, in a news release. "Their conservation indicates that they serve an important function, and there is already some experimental evidence to suggest that this is indeed the case. We are looking forward now to uncovering the specific function of these DNA elements using molecular biology and genetic engineering in our laboratory."

The findings reveal a bit more about ancient DNA. More specifically, it tell scientists a bit more about the process of evolution in animal species over time.

The findings are published in the journal BMC Evolutionary Biology.

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