Proper authentication of ancient DNA is essential, yes; but so are undogmatic approaches.
1 Environmental Microbiology Laboratory, Department of Biology, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00932; 2 Center for Applications in Biotechnology, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA, USA 93407; 3 Department of Biology, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA, USA 93407; 4 Institute for Life Science Entrepreneurship, Union, NJ, USA 07083; 5 Department of Translational Research on New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, Division of Paleopathology, University of Pisa, Pisa 56126, Italy; 6 Center for Anthropological, Paleopathological and Historical Studies of the Sardinian and Mediterranean Populations, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, Sassari 07100, Italy