We Have Found a Way to Unlock the MYSTERIES OF SHEEP From Old Parchments
6th January 2015
Top-level boffins say they have discovered a valuable new tool for mapping the genetic history of sheep: namely, the extraction of DNA from old documents, which are generally written on parchment made from the skin of sheep or other animals.
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The great thing about this is that legal documents are normally exactly dated and carefully preserved. Unlike bones, for instance, you don’t need to dig them up – they’re already in archives ready organised.