Thursday, January 29, 2009

Unlocking the Secrets of Medieval Manuscripts


An interesting story from e! Science News. Scientists are using DNA testing to find out when and where medieval manuscripts were written.

From said story...

Now a researcher from North Carolina State University is using modern advances in genetics to develop techniques that will shed light on the origins of these important cultural artifacts. Many medieval manuscripts were written on parchment made from animal skin, and NC State Assistant Professor of English Timothy Stinson is working to perfect techniques for extracting and analyzing the DNA contained in these skins with the long-term goal of creating a genetic database that can be used to determine when and where a manuscript was written.

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