Ancient or degraded DNA samples are often difficult to amplify due to the lack of sufficient copies of template DNA within the sample.  Successful amplification of these samples relies on primers persistently targeting specific segments of the DNA code.  By redesigning primers to produce shorter amplicons of overlapping segments amplification success rates can be improved.  However, by spiking the primers with Locked Nucleic Acids (LNAs) the amplification success rate can be significantly increased.