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The research investigates the effects of ancient DNA extracts on contemporary human DNA during PCR amplification.

Spiking of Contemporary Human Template DNA with Ancient DNA Extracts Induces Mutations Under PCR and Generates Nonauthentic Mitochondrial Sequences

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Randomized trial shows ancient DNA extracts induce mutations in contemporary DNA, suggesting caution in paleogenetic studies.

The research investigates the effects of ancient DNA extracts on contemporary human DNA during PCR amplification.
PCR reactions spiked with 14 selected ancient DNA extracts from human and nonhuman sources were analyzed.
The amplification of mitochondrial HVRI from contemporary human DNA was performed using cloned amplicons.
The analysis of 547 sequences revealed the presence of mutations.
76.97% of sequenced amplicons differed from the correct sequence by nucleotide substitutions and/or indels.
34 positions in a 103-bp alignment showed mutations, occurring repeatedly across independent PCR amplifications.
Many mutations coincided with those detected in previous ancient hominid studies.

Carsten M. Pusch (2004) studied this question.

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