Hair reveals all!——头发告知一切

Maar

Historically, hair has had a magical and almost cultic importance in human history and was, for instance, believed to be a source of power.
Now hair is also the source of answers to a number of questions. The new DNA-method will give us more precise information about why the mammoth died out, or what the ingredients are in the cocktail of human races that are mixed in Europe and elsewhere. And in the future, it may be an improved tool for the police and in forensics to solve crimes.

"So far you would have to drill in old bones if you wanted to compare the genetic imprint of mammoths to that of elephants, or if you wanted to see how they coped during the ice-age before they died out. Usually, the problem is that the remaining DNA samples have been scarce, and that they have been "polluted" by bacteria. But DNA from hair is very clean because it has been encapsulated in keratin, a kind of plastic membrane that protects the hair and the DNA. Think about all the extinct furred animals that are displayed on museums around the world. There is a lot of work waiting for us" says Thomas Gilbert.

The centre of research has been the mitochondria. A mitochondrion is a kind of power plant in the cell, and it is very suitable for use in comparable DNA-studies of both mammals and humans.

Professor Eske Willerslev, who is an expert in DNA-traces in sediments and organisms and who recently found the worlds oldest living bacteria, is enthusiastic about the new method.

"It is not only interesting in relation to the past, but also to the present in e.g. forensics. But some development is needed yet for the method to be 100 per cent usable in that context. As it is, it takes a certain amount of hair to reach a conclusion. And you don't always find that amount of hair in a crime-scene. But it is only a question of time and refinement. A further advantage is that the method can be combined with a very fast modern sequencing-machine and therefore give us answers overnight, whereas now we often have to wait for a long time to get the result of a DNA-test" says Eske Willerslev.

Thomas Gilbert has worked together with colleagues from a number of universities and research institutions in e.g. USA Russia, Belgium, France and Sweden on developing the method.

Maar

头发告知一切


据2007年9月28日发布的医药研究新闻称：


从头发中提炼的新DNA法将告诉我们更多的珍贵信息。

比如为何猛犸象灭绝或者鸡尾酒是由哪些成分混合在一起的。并且在将来，头发将可能改良成对犯罪现场进行取证的工具，成为***破案的法宝。

到目前为止，如果你想要比较猛犸象和大象的基因印记或者如果你想知道在猛犸象灭绝前的冰河世纪基因是如何复制的话你将只能钻研于古老的骨骼上。

通常，问题是已经是稀有的剩余DNA样本也已经被细菌“污染”了。

但从头发提取的DNA就非常干净，因为它有角蛋白包裹，可以起到保护头发和DNA的工作。

这种新方法不光是对过去的事物有用，对目前也有应用价值，比如取证。虽然需要一定量的头发才能得出结论。

在犯罪现场你不一定总能找到够量的头发。但是这仅仅是个时间和提炼的过程。相信将来可以在更短的时间内获得DNA检测的结果，将大大提高***破案的效率。

目前开发这种新方法的工作正在紧锣密鼓的展开。

really1

I know , but I've been so busy lately