We got rid of the protein using an enzyme that digests it, rather like the ones in a biological washing powder. Then we got rid of the fat with chloroform. We cleaned what was left with phenol, a revolting liquid that is the base for carbolic soap. What remained was a teaspoonful of pale brown fluid that, theoretically at least, should contain the DNA - if there was any. There would be at best only a few molecules, so we had to use Mullis's new DNA amplification reaction to boost the yield.
Cells have upwards of a hundred times more of it than any other gene.
So, into the reaction went all the chemical ingredients necessary for amplifying mitochondrial DNA, plus a few drops of the precious bone extract. Modern genetics laboratories are full of machines for doing this reaction automatically. But not then. Back in the 1980s the only machine on the market cost a fortune, and there was no money for one in our budget. The only way to do the reaction was to sit with a stopwatch in front of three water baths, one boiling, one cold and one warm, and move the test tube by hand from one bath to the next every three minutes.