Cancer Diagnosis Program | Biorepositories and Biospecimen Research Branch

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Molecular cloning of Ancient Egyptian mummy DNA.

Author(s): Pääbo S

Publication: Nature, 1985, Vol. 314, Page 644

PubMed ID: 3990798 PubMed Review Paper? No

Purpose of Paper

Conclusion of Paper

Studies

1. Study Purpose

   The purpose of this study was to assess whether mummified tissue contains DNA sutiable for molecular analysis.

   Summary of Findings:

   Twenty-three mummified specimens were examined, samples from two exhibited nuclei staining for ethidium bromide. The author reports that one of these contained DNA that was cloned in a plasmid vector and shown to contain two members of the Alu family of human repetitive DNA sequences. The author concludes that it is possible to isolate kilobase-pair fragments of DNA from mummified tissue that exhibit few postmortem alterations. The factors that distinguished this mummified specimen from the others, which contained no evaluable DNA, were not discussed.

   Biospecimens

   • Tissue - Skin

   Preservative Types

   • Other Preservative

   Diagnoses:

   • Autopsy
   • Not specified

   Platform:

   Analyte	Technology Platform
   Morphology	Light microscopy
   DNA	Electrophoresis
   DNA	Southern blot
   DNA	DNA sequencing

   Pre-analytical Factors:

   Classification	Pre-analytical Factor	Value(s)
   Biospecimen Preservation	Type of fixation/preservation	Mummification

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