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Call for papers - Ancient DNA and ancient proteins

Guest Editors

Edana Lord, PhD, Research Center for Ecosystem Resilience, Australia
Yucheng Wang, PhD, University of Cambridge, UK

Submission Status: Open   |   Submission Deadline: 28 November 2025


BMC Ecology and Evolution is calling for submissions to our Collection on Ancient DNA and ancient proteins. In recent years the advances in DNA extraction, sequencing, mass spectrometry, computing, and analytical methods has revolutionized the study of ancient DNA and proteins. These developments enhance palaeontological research, provide clearer insights into the past, and help predict future ecological changes.

Meet the Guest Editors

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Edana Lord, PhD, Research Center for Ecosystem Resilience, Australia

Dr Lord is a palaeogeneticist, focused on using ancient and modern genomics to understand population changes and evolutionary history. Her previous work used ancient DNA to study changes in populations in response to past climate for both large and small mammals. Currently, Dr Lord is a Scientific Officer (Biodiversity Research) at the Research Center for Ecosystem Resilience, where she is using modern and herbarium genomics to better understand Australian rainforest restoration and management.
 

Yucheng Wang, PhD, University of Cambridge, UK

Dr Wang is an evolutionary biologist specialising in using ancient environmental DNA (aeDNA) to investigate how ecosystems and species respond to climate change, environmental shifts, and human activities. His research focuses on developing and applying aeDNA shotgun metagenomics and target genome capture approaches, both in the lab and through bioinformatics, to reconstruct ecological evolutions, successions, interactions, as well as domestication and evolution processes of key individual species. 

About the Collection

In recent years, significant advancements in DNA extraction, sequencing technologies, mass spectrometry-based methods, computing power, and analytical techniques have transformed the study of ancient DNA and proteins. These developments have greatly expanded palaeontological and evolutionary research possibilities, offering a clearer window into the past. Additionally, this knowledge can assist researchers in predicting future ecological changes.

We welcome submissions on topics including, but not limited to:

  • Paleoecology and ecosystem reconstructions: insights from paleogenomic and paleoproteomic data to study past biodiversity, ecosystem dynamics, and species-environment interactions
  • Extinct species and megafauna: spatial and temporal distribution of extinct taxa, including Pleistocene megafauna, and their responses to environmental change
  • Adaptation, domestication, and admixture: genetic and protein-based evidence to uncover evolutionary processes in ancient populations
  • Conservation and extinction: lessons from ancient genomes and proteins to understand extinction dynamics and inform modern conservation efforts
  • Ancient plants and microbial communities: novel approaches to reconstruct past vegetation, microbial evolution, and marine ecosystems
  • Theoretical advances: rates of evolutionary change, population history, phylogeny, and species response to climate change and anthropogenic impacts
  • Technical challenges and innovations: addressing PCR biases that favor model or contaminate DNA, Preventing DNA degradation and improving DNA recovery, tackling incomplete reference databases, computational methods to improve sequence identification, taxonomic assignment, and noise filtering in highly fragmented datasets and developing frameworks for verifying and integrating data from multiple reference sources


All manuscripts submitted to BMC Ecology and Evolution, including those submitted to collections and special issues, are assessed in line with our editorial policies and the journal’s peer review process. Reviewers and editors are required to declare competing interests and can be excluded from the peer review process if a competing interest exists.

Image credit: © NatureJobs Scientist at Work competition / Jacob Anderson

There are currently no articles in this collection.

Submission Guidelines

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This Collection welcomes submission of original Research Articles. Should you wish to submit a different article type, please read our submission guidelines to confirm that type is accepted by the journal. Articles for this Collection should be submitted via our submission system, Snapp. During the submission process you will be asked whether you are submitting to a Collection, please select "Ancient DNA and ancient proteins" from the dropdown menu.

All manuscripts submitted to this journal, including those submitted to collections and special issues, are assessed in line with our editorial policies and the journal’s peer review process. Reviewers and editors are required to declare competing interests and can be excluded from the peer review process if a competing interest exists.