Category Archives: Transhuman News

Scientists successfully sequenced DNA from mummies from the site of Abusir el-Meleq, one of which was buried in this sarcophagus.

bpk/Aegyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung, SMB/Sandra Steiss

By Lizzie WadeMay. 30, 2017 , 11:00 AM

Ancient Egyptian mummies preserve many details of the deceased: facial features, signs of illness, even tattoos. But not, it seemed, DNA. After trying repeatedly to extract it, may scientists were convinced that the hot desert climate and, perhaps, the chemicals used in mummification destroyed any genetic material long ago. Now, a team of ancient DNA specialists has successfully sequenced genomes from 90 ancient Egyptian mummies. The game-changing results give scientists their first insight into the genetics of ordinary ancient Egyptianswhich changed surprisingly little through centuries of conquests.

The sequencing success, reported this week in Nature Communications, finally proves to everyone that theres DNA preserved in ancient Egyptian mummies, says Albert Zink, a biological anthropologist at the Institute for Mummy Studies in Bolzano, Italy. He participated in a 2010 study that identified DNA sequences from 16 ancient Egyptian royal mummies, including Tutankhamun. But that study used polymerase chain reaction, a method that efficiently finds and extracts targeted DNA fragments but cannot always reliably distinguish between ancient DNA and modern contamination.

The new study, led by Johannes Krause, a geneticist at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Jena, Germany, used next-generation sequencing methods to read stretches of any DNA present in a sample and fish outthose that resembled human DNA. The complete reads allowed the team to spot tell-tale damage patterns associated only with ancient DNA. That makes the new analysis much more reliable, says Hannes Schroeder, an ancient DNA researcher at the University of Copenhagen. It succeeds where previous studies on Egyptian mummies have failed or fallen short.

Krause, who has studied the DNA of Neandertals, Denisovans, and prehistoric migrants to Europe, recently gravitated toward ancient Egyptian mummies because of the empires tumultuous political history. At various points, it was conquered by Assyrians from the Near East, Nubians from farther south along the Nile, Persians, Greeks, and Romans, among others. Our question was, did those foreign conquests have a genetic impact? Krause says.

Krause turned to a collection of 151 mummy heads from the ancient settlement of Abusir el-Meleq, about 100 kilometers south of Cairo along the Nile. The settlement was devoted to Osiris, the god of the dead, making it a popular burial spot for many centuries. The heads were excavated (and removed from their bodies) in the early 20th century and now reside in two collections in Germany, at the University of Tbingen and Berlins Museum of Prehistory and Early History. Radiocarbon dating shows that the mummies span 1300 years of ancient Egyptian history, during many of the foreign conquests and then Egypts incorporation into first the Greek and then the Roman empires.

Whereasthe mummies soft tissue contained almost no DNA, the bones and teeth were chock full of genetic material. Ninety of the mummies yielded DNA once housed in mitochondria, the power plants of cells. Mitochondria carry only a few genes, but they are so plentiful that its often easier to find their DNA than the single full human genome in a cells nucleus. Still, because mitochondrial DNA is passed down from mother to child, it leaves out the story of the fathers DNA. The nuclear genome, which contains DNA from both parents, is far more informative. Unfortunately, Krause says, only a few of the mummies nuclear genomes were well preserved, and even fewer passed his strict contamination tests. His team ended up with nuclear genome samples from only three mummies, each from a different time period.

Krauses team compared the mummies mitochondrial and nuclear DNA to ancient and modern populations in the Near East and Africa. They discovered that ancient Egyptians closely resembled ancient and modern Near Eastern populations, especially those in the Levant. Whats more, the genetics of the mummies remained remarkably consistent even as different powers conquered the empire. Its possible that the mitochondrial genomes simply dont record the genetic contributions of foreign fathers, says Yehia Gad, a molecular geneticist at the National Research Centre in Cairo and a founder of the Egyptian Museums ancient DNA lab who worked with Zink on past mummy studies. But the three mummies with nuclear genome data also show striking genetic continuity, Krause points out.

Later, however, something did alter the genomes of Egyptians. Although the mummies contain almost no DNA from sub-Saharan Africa, some 15% to 20%of modern Egyptians mitochondrial DNA reflects sub-Saharan ancestry. Its really unexpected that we see this very late shift, Krause says. He suspects increased trade along the Nileincluding the slave tradeor the spread of Islam in the Middle Ages may have intensified contact between Northern and sub-Saharan Africa.

Geneticist Iosif Lazaridis of Harvard Medical School in Boston, who studies how and when ancient populations mixed, calls the new results a big accomplishment. But he wonders how representative Abusir el-Meleq is of ancient Egypt as a whole. Egypt is a big place, he says. Other regions may have experienced its conquests in different ways, some perhaps with more genetic mixing. But Lazaridis hopes for more revelations to come. Now thatits been proven that its possible to sample from mummieswell, there are literally thousands of mummies.

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Scientists thought ancient Egyptian mummies didn't have any DNA left. They were wrong - Science Magazine

RICHMOND The Virginia State Crime Commission will consider expanding the state DNA database of convicted people by including more misdemeanors.

While a larger database of DNA profiles from offenders would help solve more crimes, further expansion of qualifying crimes raises cost and privacy concerns and is opposed by the ACLU of Virginia and others.

The commission staff will also review the adequacy of current safeguards against the unauthorized collection, retention or dissemination of DNA information collected by authorities and the money required for any additional collecting.

A bill that would have directed the crime commission to study expanding DNA collection did not pass in the General Assembly this year, but the commissions executive committee decided it wanted to do it anyway.

State Del. Rob Bell, R-Albemarle, the chairman of the commission, said, Im looking forward to the information our staff assembles as they review what has happened in Virginia and other states.

Among those in favor of the study are John and Susan Graham, parents of University of Virginia student Hannah Graham, who believe she would not have been murdered had her killers DNA been taken following a misdemeanor trespassing conviction in 2010.

Hannah Graham was abducted in Charlottesville and slain by Jesse Matthew Jr. in 2014. His DNA from the trespassing conviction would have generated a hit in 2010 linking Matthew to a 2005 sexual assault in Fairfax, and he would have presumably been in prison in 2014 instead of killing Graham.

As part ofa 2016 plea deal, Matthewpleaded guilty to killing Graham and 20-year-old Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington of Roanoke County, who was abducted in October 2009 in Charlottesville.

The Grahams and expansion proponents like Albemarle County Sheriff J.E. Chip Harding and Commonwealths Attorney Robert Tracci say they hope the commission will look at which class one misdemeanor convictions in Virginia those punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine of $2,500 make the most sense for requiring samples.

According to the National Council of State Legislatures, two states, New York and Wisconsin, currently collect DNA samples from people convicted of all felonies and misdemeanors; two states collect for only some felonies and some misdemeanors; while 42 states, including Virginia, collect for all felonies and some misdemeanors.

The Virginia Department of Forensic Sciences website shows Virginias database, also called a databank, now holds more than 415,000 offender DNA profiles. DNA profiles recovered from crime scenes are compared looking for matches, or hits. The DNA profiles can also be compared to find matches between crimes and exonerate the innocent.

Virginia was the first state with its own database and had its first hit in 1993 when the assailant was identified in the vicious beating, rape and robbery of a 63-year-old Dale City woman. Virginias database profiles have now solved, or assisted in solving, more 10,000 crimes including 750 murders and more than 1,500 sexual assaults.

In Virginia most recently, nine misdemeanors were added in 2015. DNA is now currently collected from adults convicted of 14 primarily sex-related misdemeanors, but also for such misdemeanors as resisting arrest, stalking and the unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.

(DNA samples are also required in Virginia from: adults convicted of felonies and adults arrested for any violent felony and certain burglary crimes; juveniles, 14 or older at the time of the offense and convicted or adjudicated delinquent of any crime that would be a felony if committed by an adult; people registered with the Virginia Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry; and anyone ordered to provide a sample by a circuit court as part of a plea agreement. Profiles collected at the time of arrest are removed from the database if there is no conviction.)

Traci said he and Harding provided a host of topics they hope the commission staff will look at, among them the experience of New York and Wisconsin since those states expanded collection to include all misdemeanors and identify the serious misdemeanors that returned the most hits to unsolved crimes as a result of their expansions.

He also said they would like to see a review of current privacy protections to enhance transparency and confidence in the integrity of safekeeping and prevention of unauthorized dissemination of the collected DNA. That would also include possible stiffer penalties for the unlawful retention or dissemination of information.

Kristen Howard, executive director of the commission, indicated those areas will be examined. The commission will hear a report on the proposal at its Nov. 14 meeting.

Bill Farrar, a spokesman for the ACLU of Virginia, said, We would object to any expansion to the list of offenses for which DNA collection would be made mandatory.

Already, in our estimation, the list has grown beyond whats really appropriate. We dont think that this most personal and private of information should be collected from people who have only committed a misdemeanor, for example, Farrar said.

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Va. crime commission to study expansion of DNA databank to include more people convicted of misdemeanors - Roanoke Times

by Elizabeth Tyree, The Associated Press

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Virginia officials are studying a DNA database expansion to include more people convicted of misdemeanors.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that supporters expect a larger database to help solve more crimes, but opponents say an expansion raises cost and privacy concerns. The Department of Forensic Science's website shows Virginia's database now holds more than 415,000 offender DNA profiles.

A bill that would have directed the Virginia State Crime Commission to study an expansion didn't pass in the General Assembly this year, but the commission's executive committee decided to do it anyway. Staff will also review safeguards and the cost of any additional collections.

Among those in favor of the study are John and Susan Graham, parents of University of Virginia student Hannah Graham, who believe she would not have been murdered had her killers DNA been taken following a misdemeanor trespassing conviction in 2010, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.

Hannah Graham was abducted in Charlottesville and killed by Jesse Matthew in 2014.

Another supporter of the DNA database expansion is Gil Harrington, mother of Morgan Harrington who was also killed by Matthew.

Officials believe that Matthew's DNA would have generated a "hit" in the data bank after a sexual assault in Fairfax back in 2005 and, if convicted, Matthew would most likely have been in a jail cell instead of abducting Hannah Graham.

ACLU of Virginia spokesman Bill Farrar says and his group opposes collections from people who have only committed a misdemeanor.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Virginia studies DNA database expansion - WSET

WASHINGTON, Pa. (AP) Alexandra Berumen thought she was European and Mexican. Wrong.

Serena Pierce thought she was Italian and German. Wrong.

Deitrick Stogner thought he was African-American. Partly wrong.

They and two other after-school program participants at LeMoyne Community Center - Kaprice Johnson and Daisean Lacks - submitted to DNA testing to determine their true ethnic makeup. They tested through ancestry.com and africanancestry.com in January, and four youngsters were surprised by the DNA results. One remains puzzled.

"No one is one thing. We're all a hodgepodge of many things," Joyce Ellis, executive director of the center, told a group of about 30 youngsters Thursday. They gathered in a room inside the East Washington center to watch a video related to the quintet's quest to find out - as Ellis put it - "Who do you think you are?"

Videographer Allen Bankz posed that question in January, after the five test subjects submitted saliva samples as DNA evidence. One by one, from behind his camera, he asked them what they believed their genealogies to be and recorded their responses. The interesting part would come later, when the results arrived and the kids would read them - for the first time - for a second filming.

The comparison of perception and reality promised to be interesting.

The results, though, came back later than Ellis expected. She was hoping to have them in time for the center's annual Black History Month celebration at the end of February, but the only ones to arrive by then were for Kaprice and for Ellis, who likewise wanted to be tested. The other results came in only recently.

Thursday afternoon, Alexandra and Serena were the only kids who did not know their true ancestries. Bankz was poised to film them a second time. The girls certainly weren't prepared for the results.

Alexandra, whose father owns Las Palmas, a Hispanic grocery in Washington, found out she is 57 percent American Indian and 36 percent European.

"Surprised?" Ellis asked, smiling.

"Mostly," said Alexandra, who looked mostly astonished.

Serena knew one great-grandmother was from Italy and that she had relatives from Germany and Ireland, but was semi-stunned to see she was 52 percent Irish, 15 percent Scandinavian and only 8 percent Italian.

Deitrick considers himself to be an African-American teen with a heavy concentration of relatives in the Chicago area. He also has a grandmother who is partly American Indian. But he is more European (52 percent) than African (43 percent), with a mix of many nations.

"I had no idea I was that much of a mix," he said.

Daisean has an interesting ancestral link. He is a descendant of Henrietta Lacks, who has gained renown as an unwitting contributor to amazing medical advances. Before she died of cervical cancer in 1951, at age 31, doctors removed two cervical samples without telling her. Henrietta's HeLa cells have been multiplied and used in a number of biomedical research procedures, and were instrumental in Jonas Salk's development of the polio vaccine.

In January, Daisean said his father is African-American, his mother is white and his family is mostly from Pittsburgh. He eventually discovered he is 33 percent Ivory Coast of Ghana, 21 percent Nigerian and 13 percent European. He was the only test subject who was not on hand for the DNA program Thursday.

Kaprice received her report more than two months ago and still considers it to be vague. She was told she has a gene that traces back about 15,000 years, and has a European background - without a breakdown of that background. Kaprice said a number of family members have hailed from around Carnegie and Pittsburgh, and that her mother is Irish with red hair.

Ellis also was surprised at her results, She said she is 36 percent European, with elements of France, Germany, England, Italy and Ireland - nations she, coincidentally, has visited. Ellis said she also is 24 percent West African descent.

"I'm zero percent native American Indian, which I thought might be the highest (percentage)," Ellis added.

Yet she wasn't totally surprised. When it comes to ancestry, the LeMoyne Center director realizes anything is possible.

"Skin tone is no matter," she told her young audience Thursday. "It's what the DNA says."

___

Information from: Observer-Reporter, http://www.observer-reporter.com

The rest is here:
DNA tests tell LeMoyne Center youth who they are - Timesonline.com

DNA asked Simon Cowell to turn to a page in a dictionary they'd provided page 1,414 if you're interested to find the word, but he had a bit of an issue.

Simon wasn't wearing his glasses and couldn't find the page, so Amanda Holden had to help him out, which was quite entertaining as a separate performance.

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Still, the word "probably" was indeed on the page and it was safe to say the act went down a treat with the judges, with Ant making fun of Simon's issue with the dictionary.

"Without glasses Ant, these are the smallest numbers I've ever in my life," he explained, before turning to the DNA chaps, gobsmacked.

"How the bloody hell did you do THAT? No seriously, I have no idea what just happened there, but that was honestly incredible."

David cheekily added: "What was truly magical, was that you got Simon Cowell to read a book for the first time in his life. That was incredible. I mean he didn't find it easy."

DNA battled it out in the first semi-final of the week alongside St Patrick's Junior Choir Drumgreenagh, PC Dan, Niels Harder, Kyle Tomlinson, Empire Dance Crew, Tyrone & Mina and Miss Treat Vibe.

Britain's Got Talent airs the show's live semi-finals all week on ITV.

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Britain's Got Talent's Simon Cowell almost ruins DNA's semi-final mind-reading act - DigitalSpy.com

New, license-free DNA ladders offer a much cheaper way to estimate the size of DNA fragments.

Researchers developed two plasmidsa circular form of DNAthat DNA scissors known as restriction enzymes can cut to create the DNA ladders. The ladders can be used to estimate the size of DNA fragments between about 50 and 5,000 base pairs in length.

DNA ladders, also known as DNA molecular weight markers, are among the most commonly used reagents in molecular biology research, says Song Tan, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Penn State. They are used in any application that requires gel electrophoresisa technique that separates fragments of DNA by their size.

We would like to offer these plasmids to the research community as a means to produce high quality DNA molecular weight markers at a low cost.

The research team created two plasmids, pPSU1 and pPSU2, that together produce DNA ladders in increments of either 100 or 1,000 base pairs, depending on which restriction enzyme is used. Researchers can easily produce in their own laboratories enough of the two ladders for 1,000 uses for under $10. In contrast, commercially available DNA ladders cost between $250 and $500 for the same amount.

Additionally, unlike many currently available DNA ladders, the 100-base-pair ladders work appropriately on both agarose and polyacrylamide gels, two types commonly used in molecular biology.

We are also excited about the possibility that the pPSU plasmids may be used around the world to further research and enhance science education in classroom laboratories, says former undergraduate student Ryan C. Henrici. This technology produces DNA ladders at less than a penny per use, a fraction of the cost of using commercially available DNA ladders.

The pPSU1 and pPSU2 plasmids used to produce the Penn State DNA ladders will be available without licensing restrictions to nonprofit academic users through the Addgene and DNASU plasmid repositories.

The US National Institutes of Health National Institute of General Medical and the Penn State Eberly College of Science supported the work.A paper describing the research appears in Scientific Reports.

Source: Sam Sholtis forPenn State

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'Ladders' let scientists measure lots of DNA for $10 - Futurity: Research News