Woolly mammoth hair yields 'fantastic' DNA


	Woolly mammoth hair yields 'fantastic' DNA

wiccantexan

9-28-2007 5:53 PM

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dna, genetics, wildlife, history, anthropology, animals

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<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://www.clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/afbe7b8c-22ba-4c9b-a49b-3662e8451175/7810D1AA-11F3-46A6-843B-0929FAC1DFBD/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21015458/" href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21015458/" style="font-size: 11px;">www.msnbc.msn.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21015458/"><P class="textBodyBlack"><SPAN id="byLine"></SPAN>Hair is a better source of ancient <A class="iAs" classname="iAs" href="#" target="_blank" itxtdid="4010270">DNA</A> than bone or muscle, a new study involving woolly mammoth hair suggests. </P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21015458/"><P class="textBodyBlack"><SPAN id="byLine"></SPAN>"The main problem with things like bone is that it contains real <A href="http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/060529_mm_genes.html"><U>DNA</U></A> from the source, but also a load of DNA that is undesirable," said study team member Tom Gilbert of the University of Copenhagen. "For example, when a <A class="iAs" classname="iAs" href="#" target="_blank" itxtdid="4202960">mammoth</A> dies and the body starts putrefying, bacteria gets all throughout the body. Later, as it's buried in the ground, soil bacteria get into it." </P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21015458/"><P class="textBodyBlack"><SPAN id="byLine"></SPAN>Contamination from bacteria DNA generally make up 50 to more than 90 percent of the raw DNA extracted from the bone and muscles of ancient specimens, Gilbert said. In contrast, more than 90 percent of the DNA extracted<A href="http://www.livescience.com/php/multimedia/imagedisplay/img_display.php?pic=070927_mammoth_hair_02.jpg&cap=Genuine+fossil+mammoth+hair.+This+sample+is+25%2C000+years+old+from+the+Indigirka+River.+Credit:+A.+Sher%2C+F.+Shidlovskiy%2C+Ice+Age+Museum%2C+Moscow&title=Woolly+Mammoth+Hair+Yields+%27Fantastic%27+DNA&title=Woolly%20Mammoth%20Hair%20Yields%20'Fantastic'%20DNA"> from hairs</A> taken from <A class="iAs" classname="iAs" href="#" target="_blank" itxtdid="4528981">woolly mammoth</A> specimens in the new study belonged to the extinct mega-mammals themselves. </P></blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/7810D1AA-11F3-46A6-843B-0929FAC1DFBD/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content6.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>