Institut Jacques Monod, CNRS, University Paris Diderot, Paris, France.
Mol Ecol Resour. 2018 Nov;18(6):1185-1187. doi: 10.1111/1755-0998.12931.
It is the dream of all researchers working with ancient DNA to identify prior to DNA extraction from bone the specimens or specific zones within them that contain the highest proportion of endogenous DNA. As it impacts the sacrifice of precious ancient specimens and the financial support needed for the analyses, the question is of high importance to the scientific field of palaeogenomics. The "Holy Grail" of palaeogenomics was reached when Cristina Gamba et al. () discovered that it was in the petrosal part of the temporal bone, the densest part of the mammalian skeleton, where DNA is exceptionally well preserved. As a consequence, osteological collections experienced a rush from palaeogenomicists to "harvest" these precious bone parts. In this issue of Molecular Ecology Resources, Alberti et al. () describe the discovery of another promising source of relatively well-preserved endogenous DNA, that they had identified through computed tomography (CT scans), the outermost layer of cortical bone. These bones being larger and more abundant than petrous bones, this discovery increases markedly the source material for high-quality palaeogenomic studies and releases the pressure on osteological collections.
所有从事古 DNA 研究的研究人员都梦想在从骨骼中提取 DNA 之前，能够识别出那些包含最高比例内源性 DNA 的样本或特定区域。由于这会影响到珍贵古标本的牺牲和分析所需的财务支持，因此这个问题对古基因组学这一科学领域至关重要。当克里斯蒂娜·甘巴等人（）发现，在外耳骨（哺乳动物骨骼中最密集的部分）的岩部，DNA 能够得到极好的保存时，古基因组学的“圣杯”就被找到了。因此，古基因组学家们争先恐后地从骨骼收藏中“采集”这些珍贵的骨部。在本期《分子生态学资源》中，阿尔贝蒂等人（）描述了另一种相对较好地保存内源性 DNA 的有希望的来源的发现，他们通过计算机断层扫描（CT 扫描）确定了这一来源，即皮质骨的最外层。由于这些骨头比耳骨更大、更丰富，这一发现大大增加了高质量古基因组研究的源材料，并减轻了骨骼收藏的压力。
