Premium
Ancient DNA as a Tool for Navigating the Anthropocene
Author(s) -
Hambrecht George
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
culture, agriculture, food and environment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.308
H-Index - 12
eISSN - 2153-9561
pISSN - 2153-9553
DOI - 10.1111/cuag.12098
Subject(s) - anthropocene , ancient dna , resilience (materials science) , climate change , adaptation (eye) , psychological resilience , baseline (sea) , geography , ecology , archaeology , environmental ethics , biology , sociology , fishery , psychology , population , philosophy , physics , demography , neuroscience , psychotherapist , thermodynamics
Ancient DNA ( aDNA ) analysis has led to significant breakthroughs in our understanding of the origin of our own species as well as that of many commensal and wild species. New approaches in aDNA research promise to make it a major tool for adaptation to and mitigation of the impacts of the rapidly changing climates of the Anthropocene. This article reviews a number of these new lines of research and their current and potential future contributions to responding to climate change, particularly in two areas: the generation of deeper baseline data on ecological and environmental change, and the tracking and recovery of lost genetic diversity to strengthen the resilience of living species. The article argues that aDNA analysis is creating a powerful new pathway for archeology to engage with the challenges of the Anthropocene.