In a study published last Tuesday (28) in the scientific journal Molecular Biology and Evolution, researchers say they managed to recover the DNA of a mummy from lice. The article, conducted by the University of Reading (UK), mentions that genetic information can be preserved by the louse egg (the famous nit), which is often found in the hair of mummified humans.
According to the study, this new technique could provide valuable clues to science about how people lived and died thousands of years ago. Until then, scientists had extracted ancient DNA only from skull bones or inside teeth, but the technique could diverge from some beliefs and cause damage to the specimens, compromising future scientific analysis.
“The demand for DNA samples from ancient human remains has grown in recent years as we seek to understand migration and diversity in ancient human populations. Lice have followed humans throughout their existence, so this new method could provide information about our ancestors, preserving unique specimens”, says the author of the article, Alejandra Perotti, in an interview with EurekAlert.
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In the study, the team extracted DNA from mummies in Argentina, dated 1,500 to 2,000 years ago. The DNA samples found in the nits revealed the same concentration of DNA as a tooth, and twice as much information as is usually found in bones. The analysis of this genetic information allowed us to identify information such as the sex of the mummies and their migration pattern.
