How fossil DNA could bring dying species back from the brink

How fossil DNA could bring dying species back from the brink: "Countless animal and plant species teeter on the brink of extinction, but the DNA of their ancestors may point the way to survival. Paleobiologists are scouring fossil DNA to determine why species once thrived...and how they can do so again.

Yes, it's the rare instance in which fossil DNA doesn't lead to cloning. Instead, scientists in the new field of 'conservation paleobiology' are trying to glean all possible clues from the analysis of ancient DNA. For many species, there are even seemingly simple things that we don't know, like where that species lived a century ago, or how it managed to survive earlier drastic changes to its environment. Fossil DNA can reveal those answers.

Mike Bunce heads up the DNA Lab at Murdoch University in Western Australia. He explains what this new field aims to do:"