For forensics, personal objects found at the scene of a crime are key because they may contain DNA that identifies the victim and even the murderer. But it is not easy to recover genetic material from 20,000 years ago, much less from a thing that someone had attached to their body. First, because most human creations, like clothing, have been lost to time. Second, because the artifacts that are preserved are so valuable that they cannot be used with them. DNA extraction techniques, most of them aggressive, because they could put them in danger. But now, German scientists have discovered that genetic information can be recovered from a pendant belonging to the person who wore it simply by washing it.
