Tiny traces of protein lingering in the bones and teeth of ancient humans could soon transform scientists' efforts to unravel the secrets of the evolution of our species.

Researchers believe a techniqueknown as proteomics – newly applied in the field of human fossils – could allow them to identify the proteins from which our predecessors' bodies were constructed and bring new insights into the past 2 million years of humanity's history.

Analysis of these microscopic remnants could then help to solve major evolutionary mysteries such as the identity of the common ancestors of Homo sapiens and the Neanderthals.

 The ramifications of the technology would mirror the impact of the recently developed technology of ancient DNA analysis which, over the past 20 years, has helped uncover dramatic secrets about humanity's past. These include the discovery that many modern humans possess Neanderthal genes and that the two species must have interbred at some point over the last 100,000 years.

A UK project to assess the promise of proteomics has just been launched and will be carried out by a team of scientists based at two major research centres in London: the Francis Crick Institute and the Natural History Museum. "We will spend the next three years carefully assessing how much protein we can get out of fossils and what we can learn from the samples we obtain," said Professor Chris Stringer, of the Natural History Museum. "Hopefully, it will indicate we can learn a lot about our past by studying ancient proteins."

Read more: theguardian.com