A mobile laboratory for ancient DNA analysis

Ancient DNA from Human and Animal

Research on ancient DNA (aDNA) has the potential to enable molecular biologists and archeologists to decipher certain aspects of history by direct looking into the past. However, several major problems in this field limit the applicability of aDNA studies, most importantly contamination with modern DNA and postmortem DNA degradation. In this study we extracted and analyzed aDNA obtained from ~3...

Mitochondrial DNA analysis of ancient Peruvian highlanders.

Ancient DNA recovered from 57 individuals excavated by Hiram Bingham at the rural communities of Paucarcancha, Patallacta, and Huata near the famed Inca royal estate and ritual site of Machu Picchu was analyzed by polymerase chain reaction, and the results were compared with ancient and modern DNA from various Central Andean areas to test their hypothesized indigenous highland origins. The cont...

gargammel: a sequence simulator for ancient DNA

Summary Ancient DNA has emerged as a remarkable tool to infer the history of extinct species and past populations. However, many of its characteristics, such as extensive fragmentation, damage and contamination, can influence downstream analyses. To help investigators measure how these could impact their analyses in silico , we have developed gargammel, a package that simulates ancient DNA frag...

A simplified protocol for producing Taq DNA polymerase in biology laboratory

Background: Taq DNA polymerase is a very important enzyme for molecular biological studies such as DNA amplification and DNA sequencing by the PCR. It is a standard enzyme that is used in 90% of molecular biology labs today. The aim of this study was to produce Taq DNA polymerase enzyme in E. coli by a reliable, practical, simple and low cost method. Materials and Methods: In this study, the T...

Extraction and Analysis of Ancient DNA from Human Remains of Masjede Kabood Burial Site