The half-life of DNA in bone: measuring decay kinetics in 158 dated fossils

Overview of attention for article published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, October 2012

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In the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (99th percentile)
High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (98th percentile)

Mentioned by

news: 42 news outlets
blogs: 22 blogs
policy: 1 policy source
twitter: 67 X users
patent: 1 patent
facebook: 9 Facebook pages

wikipedia: 15 Wikipedia pages
googleplus: 8 Google+ users
reddit: 95 Redditors
q&a: 5 Q&A threads
video: 10 YouTube creators
podcasts: 3 podcasts

Readers on

mendeley: 807 Mendeley
citeulike: 6 CiteULike

So far, Altmetric has seen 111 Reddit threads by 95 users.

That's a great answer -- alas, when I [tracked it...

User curiousscribbler, in the AskBiology subreddit, 22 Jul 2026

That's a great answer -- alas, when I [tracked it down](https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article-abstract/279/1748/4724/74…

It has a half life of about 521 years, and under proper...

User Imaginary-Space718, in the GetNoted subreddit, 18 Feb 2026

It has a half life of about 521 years, and under proper conditions it can last up to 6.8 million years. Source: Allentoft et al…

DNA has a half-life of ca 521 years. Preservation is...

User arbuthnot-lane, in the askscience subreddit, 09 Apr 2025

DNA has a half-life of ca 521 years. Preservation is increased in very cold…

Here's my follow up question to using the 13,000 or 72,000...

User liverstealer, in the Future(s) Studies subreddit, 08 Apr 2025

Here's my follow up question to using the 13,000 or 72,000 year old DNA. [DNA has a half life of about 500 years](https://royalso…

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