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DNA reveals a green Greenland

Old forests hint that the island has been icy for 450,000 years.

Scientists have drilled through two kilometres of ice in southern Greenland and retrieved DNA from the pine forest that once existed there, buzzing with prehistoric insect life. Dated to between 450,000 and 800,000 years old, the DNA is among the oldest ever found.

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Posted by Nicola Jones on July 5, 2007 07:00 PM |

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I find this news absolutely thrilling as far as the climatic cycle of the earth is concerned. However only a tiny piece of ice has been analyzed, and, I believe, search for more samples should be the next major thing in this line. More samples with similar findings would certainly give the claims a solid foundation.

Posted by: Enayetur Raheem | July 7, 2007 06:51 PM

"No amount of investigation into a block of ice can reveal all its myriad secrets", - Ukichiro Nakaya (1900-1962), from "Ice of the Arctic"

Posted by: Latvian | July 10, 2007 08:15 AM

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