W234How Do You Know When You Don't Have Any Ancient DNA?
Time: 1:30 PM
Over the last 25 years, we have developed a solid understanding of the nature of DNA recovered from archival, archaeological and palaeontological materials. Ancient DNA scientists have borrowed heavily from molecular biology, biochemistry and geoscience, in order to design novel methods for DNA extraction and characterisation. Developments in DNA sequencing over the last decade have greatly improved our ability to recover genetic data from ancient material, but at the same time the problems of contamination, DNA damage and co-purification of inhibitors remain central to the field. In this talk, I will review the current state-of-the-art in recovering DNA from highly degraded samples, and also explore the practical limits to DNA recovery, identification and analysis.
Natural History Museum
Email: i.barnes@nhm.ac.uk