Abstract
Three reports of sequencing DNA isolated from ancient fossils have recently been published. Two of these reports describe sequences of DNA from plant chloroplasts in 17-20 million-year-old fossils found in Miocene sediments in Clarkia, Idaho. The third report provides a sequence for a DNA segment from a 25-30 million-year-old termite imbedded in amber. The DNAs of the fossil plants code for a subunit of an important chloroplast enzyme and the DNA of the fossil termite codes for a portion of a ribosomal RNA. In this paper, the author critiques the chemical and biological value of these studies and their significance to Darwinian evolutionary theory, the theory of punctuated equilibria, and his theory of theistic evolution.