Ancient DNA gives debate a new life. An Australian scientist, who claims that his analysis of the oldest DNA recovered from human remains — an aboriginal skeleton from New South Wales claimed to be 60,000 years old — casts doubt on the common genetic ancestry of all modern humans, is embroiled in two sorts of controversy. He is besieged by challenges to his dating techniques from leading Australian scientists on the one hand. On the other, there’s this buried in the last paragraph of the news story — Aboriginal leaders are apparently upset that they were not kept abreast of the DNA findings and issued a statement yesterday that they did not need scientists to inform them that their ancestors had “been here forever.”