Ancient secrets unveiled through proteins: A new perspective on our distant ancestors, challenging the perceived limitations of DNA's lifespan.
In the quest to understand our origins, scientists are turning to a novel approach: the study of ancient proteins, or paleoproteomics. This method, which has the potential to decipher our more distant evolution in Africa, where DNA studies are nearly impossible, is providing insights into human evolution that go back up to around 3.5 million years.
Due to severe DNA degradation in Africa’s warm climates, ancient DNA sequences older than about 20,000 years are extremely rare or absent. Paleoproteomics offers a way to bridge this gap since proteins, particularly enamel proteomes, degrade more slowly and can survive in fossils millions of years old.
One of the most significant breakthroughs in this field came in May 2021, when a study published in the journal Science recovered ancient proteins from the teeth of four members of the species Paranthropus robustus. This discovery allowed researchers to determine the biological sex of the individuals, with two being male and two being female.
However, it's important to note that protein data currently provide less genetic resolution than DNA. While useful for genus-level identification and sex determination in certain fossils, proteins do not yet allow a clear reconstruction of species relationships or interbreeding events in deep time.
The human genus appeared around 2.6 million years ago, and two-legged primates emerged 7 million years ago in Africa. The enamel proteome, composed of just five major proteins related to enamel formation, is a limiting factor in this field. Variation among these proteins is limited, so the technique is still emerging and can only partially illuminate the genetic makeup of early hominins.
Despite these limitations, paleoproteomics is a promising field that is expected to improve as methods develop. In 2025, researchers successfully extracted the oldest proteins yet, from Epiaceratherium, an extinct rhinoceros-like creature that lived in the Canadian Arctic more than 21 million years ago.
Rebecca Ackermann, a biological anthropologist at the University of Cape Town, believes that protein and sex analysis could reveal that some bones previously interpreted as males and females of the same species were actually individuals of the same sex, but from different lineages. This discovery could revolutionise our understanding of human evolution.
In conclusion, paleoproteomics is a promising avenue for understanding human evolutionary history in Africa, going back several million years. By recovering ancient proteins where DNA is unavailable, this field helps fill crucial gaps in our understanding of human origins, complementing and extending what is possible with ancient DNA restricted to relatively recent periods. Nonetheless, paleoproteomics currently delivers limited genetic information compared to DNA and is expected to improve as methods develop.
[1] Study on ancient proteins from Paranthropus robustus published in Science (May 2021) [2] Study on the proteome from Australopithecus africanus published in the South African Journal of Science (February 2021) [4] Extraction of the oldest mammalian proteome from a 1.9 million-year-old tooth from the extinct ape relative Gigantopithecus (2019) [5] First ancient proteome extracted from a 43,000-year-old woolly mammoth bone (2012)
The medical-conditions of ancient species can be studied through the analysis of ancient proteins, as evident in the recovery of proteins from four members of the species Paranthropus robustus (May 2021, Science journal). This research, paired with protein and sex analysis, could potentially revolutionize our understanding of human evolution due to its potential to reveal hidden facts about early hominins and their lineages.
In the realm of health and wellness, paleoproteomics has significant implications, as this field provides insights into the diets, lifestyles, and even medical conditions of extinct species by studying their protein remnants.
