The full programme book (PDF) - Royal Geographical Society
The full programme book (PDF) - Royal Geographical Society
The full programme book (PDF) - Royal Geographical Society
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THEME 11: INSIGHTS FROM GENETICS<br />
Insights from genetics – the past and future of ancient DNA research<br />
Terry Brown<br />
Manchester Institute of Biotechnology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester<br />
M1 7DN<br />
It is almost 30 years since the first report of ancient DNA (aDNA) in a quagga skin and 25<br />
years since the discovery of aDNA in preserved bones. During the intervening years,<br />
aDNA research has progressed through an over-ambitious phase during which anything<br />
seemed possible, a re-evaluation phase when nothing seemed possible and everything<br />
appeared to be modern contamination, and finally to a more sober and productive phase<br />
that can be traced back to the early 2000s. <strong>The</strong> growing maturity of aDNA research has<br />
been driven by an increasing understanding of the technical regimes needed to limit<br />
contamination of ancient samples with modern DNA and to recognize contamination when<br />
in occurs. Today, contamination is still a major issue when human remains are studied,<br />
but is no longer a serious problem with non-human material, at least when the work is<br />
done properly. <strong>The</strong> current productivity of aDNA research is also due to the introduction of<br />
new ‘next generation’ sequencing (NGS) techniques, which have now largely replaced the<br />
previous methodology based on the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). With PCR it was<br />
only possible to obtain a few short sequences from an aDNA extract, but NGS provides<br />
many millions of sequences in a single experiment. NGS can therefore be used to<br />
sequence the entire genomes of extinct species or of prehistoric examples of extant<br />
species, or can be directed at individual genes and groups of genes of interest.<br />
Metagenome sequencing, in which all the aDNA in an environmental sample such as a<br />
sediment core is studied, is being used to reconstruct palaeoecologies. In many respects,<br />
the limit to the ambition of aDNA researchers lies not with the questions being asked, but<br />
with the bioinformatics challenges inherent in handling and analyzing the millions of<br />
sequences that are now routinely obtained. <strong>The</strong> future trends are staggering in their<br />
possibilities. Sequencing a modern human genome is now so easy and cheap that it could<br />
be considered for an undergraduate lab class and the techniques that make this possible<br />
are rapidly being superseded by even more powerful ones. In this paper I will attempt to<br />
map out the ways in which this revolution in aDNA research will revolutionize Quaternary<br />
science in coming years.<br />
Keywords: ancient DNA; genetics; genomes; palaeoecology.