DNA recovery from human bone has been key to the developing science and
technology of ancient DNA studies. The recovery of macromolecules from bone
however, does not correlate well with recognisable parameters of preservation and
predicting DNA recovery rates from ancient bone can be very difficult. The extent of
degradation of buried bones often depends on environmental taphonomy and can vary
from virtually none to complete and rapid destruction. Although soil or related
microbes are undoubtedly responsible for the majority of this structural degradation
over time, exceptionally little is known of the mechanisms or specific bacteria
involved. Fungi were previously thought to be responsible for destructive processes
(tunnelling) within bone but over the last 30 years the role of bacteria has been
increasingly recognised. Our aim was to develop a less complex in vitro model of the
destructive effects of microbes on bone which might allow a better understanding of
the recovery of mitochondrial or pathogen DNA over time
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