Here is the link:
... http://allafrica.com/stories/200107260275.html
If the find at a local World Heritage Site is authenticated, it could be
the oldest such sample yet extracted.
> Two researchers claim that they have extracted the DNA of a
> 1,8-million-year-old hominid from microscopic traces of blood found on
> stone tools excavated at the Sterkfontein Caves.
>
> It is a discovery, scientists say, that could revolutionise the study of
> ancient DNA and the origins of mankind.
>
> "The DNA we have found is something between a chimpanzee and a human,
> which suggests a hominid," explains Wits University micro
> archaeologist Bonnie Williamson.
>
> Williamson and Professor Tom Loy of the University of Queensland believe
> that this DNA sequence is that of either our direct ancestor
> Homo habilis or Paranthropus robustus. If their findings are verified it
> would be the oldest DNA yet extracted.
> ...
> The DNA they have sequenced is one base point of that of human DNA. In
> comparison, the DNA of a chimpanzee, human's closest relative,
> is three base points away from that of a human's.
>
> What Loy feels gives credibility to the research is that both he and
> Williamson, his PhD student, got the same results using different
> techniques and working in laboratories on different continents.
>
> Loy had discovered the minute quantities of blood on the Sterkfontein
> stone tools several years ago while examining them under an electron
> microscope. "Blood is a remarkably tough residue that can survive for
> long periods of time. Even artefacts that have been washed in
> laboratories often still have traces of blood on them," he says.
>
> To extract the DNA from the blood sample Loy used a technique called
> polymerase chain reaction to replicate the short strands of DNA.
> Care had to be taken to avoid modern DNA contamination of the sample.
>
> Some scientists have expressed caution over Loy and Williamson's claim.
> There have been false alarms in the study of ancient DNA. In 1995
> a scientist announced that he had extracted DNA from an
> 80-million-year-old dinosaur bone. Other researchers concluded that the
> dinosaur DNA was that of a mammal.
> ...
> "We took all the necessary precautions, we used bleach to sterilise
> surfaces and ultraviolet light to destroy any other modern DNA," says
> Loy, who in the past 12 years of ancient DNA research has had only one
> contamination.