Hunting the double helix : how DNA is solving puzzles of the past

240 Pages·2005·4.01 MB·English

by  Meyer

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For my grandpa,
Alexander Park Gregg
A true gentleman scientist
First published in 2005
Copyright © Anna Meyer 2005
All rights reserved.No part ofthis book may be reproduced or transmitted in any
formorby any means,electronic or mechanical,including photocopying,recording
or by any information storage and retrieval system,without prior permission in writing
from the publisher.The Australian Copyright Act1968(the Act) allows a maximum of
onechapter or10 per cent ofthis book,whichever is the greater,to be photocopied
by any educational institution for its educational purposes provided that the educational
institution (or body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to Copyright
Agency Limited (CAL)under the Act.
Allen &Unwin
83 Alexander Street
Crows Nest NSW 2065 Australia
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: www.allenandunwin.com
National Library ofAustralia
Cataloguing-in-Publication entry:
Meyer,Anna,1976– .
Hunting the double helix :how DNA is
solving puzzles ofthe past.
Includes index.
ISBN 1 74114 107 9.
1.DNA.2.DNA – Miscellanea.3.DNAfingerprinting.
I.Title.
572.86
Diagrams on pages 3,20,105 and 163 are by Ian Faulkner.
Set in 11/15.5 pt Minion by Midland Typesetters,Maryborough,Vic.
Printed in Australia by Griffin Press,South Australia
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction:The quest begins 1
1 Almost Human:Werethe Neanderthals our ancestors? 9
2 The Prehistoric Zoo:Could extinct animals be
brought back to life? 36
3 Cretaceous Capers:Couldwe really clone a dinosaur? 66
4 Big Bird:Unravelling the mysteries ofthe
New Zealand moa 91
5 Plague Proportions:Searching for the truth behind
devastating historical epidemics 113
6 Problems ofIdentity:Did Anastasia survive
the Russian Revolution? 144
7 The Heart ofthe Matter:What became of
Louis XVII ofFrance? 173
Conclusion:What next for ancient DNA research? 194
Sources 199
Index 225
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First, I sincerely thank everyone at Allen & Unwin who has
played a part in this book, especially Ian Bowring, Emma
Cotter and Angela Handley. The fantastic advice and continuous
support you have given me has been absolutely invaluable.
I greatly appreciate the assistance of the experts in ancient
DNA who have generously provided information and read drafts
of chapters. In particular, I would like to thank Jean-Jacques
Cassiman,Adrian Gibbs,Arthur Aufderheide and David Lambert.
A big thank you to my PhD supervisors at the Australian
National University’s Centre for the Public Awareness of Science,
Sue Stocklmayer and Chris Bryant,for your support and input into
this project.I also acknowledge with great appreciation the support
ofan ANU PhD scholarship while working on this project.
My deepest thanks go to my husband,Andrew Dickson,for his
unwavering support and encouragement, reading endless drafts
and,most of all,believing in me.Thank you also to the rest of my
family for providing plenty of support and encouragement—no
one could wish for more.Finally,thank you to my dog Sweep,my
constant and faithful companion through this entire process.
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INTRODUCTION
The quest begins
One morning a few years back, I was in my university office,
busily photocopying a stack of boring scientific articles.
Hearing a sound outside the room,I glanced up and found myself
confronted with rather an unusual sight. Striding down the
corridor towards me at quite a pace was a tall, thin man, with
unruly shoulder-length brown hair and an eager, slightly wild-
eyed expression. In his hand he clutched a small plastic bag,
containing one small,slightly squashed,very dead bird.‘It’s a bird
in a bag!’ he announced enthusiastically, stating the obvious,
before turning the corner and disappearing into the genetics
laboratory.
‘Who was that?’ I thought to myself. I was intrigued by this
bird-toting stranger, and I was curious about exactly what he
intended to do in a genetics laboratory with a squashed bird.It was
by far the most interesting thing I had seen all day. I asked my
supervisor,David,who he was.‘That’s Alan Cooper,’David replied.
‘He does ancient DNA research at Oxford University,and he’s over
here doing some experiments on that bird today.’ ‘Oh, right,’
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2 HUNTING THE DOUBLE HELIX
I replied,none the wiser—I didn’t have a clue what ancient DNA
research was,but I didn’t want to admit it.
Now at the time I was looking around for a topic for an essay
I had to write for one of my postgraduate genetics courses. I had
been thinking about it for ages,but no ideas had sprung to mind.
Ididn’t know anything about ancient DNA but it sounded interest-
ing,so Ithought,‘Why not?’and decided to write my essay on it.
Seizing the opportunity,I cornered Alan on his way back down
the corridor,and asked ifhe would tell me a bit about ancient DNA
research.‘I’m just heading over to buy some lunch,’he said,‘follow
me and I’ll tell you about it.’‘Great!’I replied.Over a hasty lunch,
Alan explained the basics of ancient DNA research and I was
immediately hooked.It’s actually really awesome.
Basics of DNA
Before I explain about ancient DNA,here’s a briefoverview ofafew
important facts to do with DNA.Humans,and in fact livingthings
in general, are in effect nothing more than massive collections of
almost unimaginably large numbers of discrete microscopic cells,
all working cooperatively to produce a unique individual.
Inside virtually every cell is a specialised compartment, the
nucleus,which contains a set ofsmall dense structures,the chromo-
somes. Each species has a characteristic number of chromosomes
per cell—humans,for example,have 46.
Opposite: The cell nucleus contains a number ofchromosomes,each consisting ofa
long,tightly wound DNA molecule.DNA exists in the form ofa ‘double helix’,with
two paired strands wound around each other.A strand consists ofa string offour
bases: adenine (A),thymine (T),guanine (G)and cytosine (C).In the double helix,
Aalways pairs with T,and Galways pairs with C.DNA can be obtained from
virtually all cells.