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Richard III: Scientists to sequence DNA | Richard III: Scientists to sequence DNA |
(35 minutes later) | |
The DNA of Richard III is to be mapped, potentially revealing details like hair and eye colour, researchers have said. | The DNA of Richard III is to be mapped, potentially revealing details like hair and eye colour, researchers have said. |
The project is to be led by the University of Leicester geneticist who helped identify the remains. | The project is to be led by the University of Leicester geneticist who helped identify the remains. |
His remains were found in a Leicester car park in 2012. | His remains were found in a Leicester car park in 2012. |
The £100,000 study, expected to last at least 18 months, aims to provide an archive of Richard III's DNA information for historians, scientists and the public. | |
Details of Richard III's appearance are not known for certain because all portraits of him were done long after his death. | Details of Richard III's appearance are not known for certain because all portraits of him were done long after his death. |
He died in the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, but his grave was lost when the surrounding church was demolished. | He died in the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, but his grave was lost when the surrounding church was demolished. |
The sequencing will be led by Leicester genetics expert Turi King. | The sequencing will be led by Leicester genetics expert Turi King. |
Among the figures of historical importance whose remains have undergone such a procedure are Otzi the Iceman, who was discovered on the Alpine border between Italy and Austria in 1991; a 4,000-year-old Greenlandic Inuit and a 7,000-year-old hunter gatherer from Spain found in 2006. | |
The research will allow scientists to decide if Richard III suffered from conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, or scoliosis or if he had a "genetic predisposition" to them. | The research will allow scientists to decide if Richard III suffered from conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, or scoliosis or if he had a "genetic predisposition" to them. |
Dr King and her colleagues will also sequence the DNA of one of Richard III's living relatives, Canadian Michael Ibsen, whose DNA was used to confirm the king's identity. | Dr King and her colleagues will also sequence the DNA of one of Richard III's living relatives, Canadian Michael Ibsen, whose DNA was used to confirm the king's identity. |
"It is an extremely rare occurrence that archaeologists are involved in the excavation of a known individual, let alone a king of England," Dr King said. | "It is an extremely rare occurrence that archaeologists are involved in the excavation of a known individual, let alone a king of England," Dr King said. |
She said researchers can now "sequence entire genomes from ancient individuals and with them, those of pathogens that may have caused infectious disease". | She said researchers can now "sequence entire genomes from ancient individuals and with them, those of pathogens that may have caused infectious disease". |
"You can actually look across his entire genetic make-up and say something about his ancestry - it is likely he was northern European," she added. | |
However, the DNA research was "not likely" to allow people to find out more easily if they are directly related to Richard III, a spokeswoman added. | |
The final resting place of the remains is still the subject of a legal case, with some distant relatives calling for the bones to go to York, rather than Leicester. | The final resting place of the remains is still the subject of a legal case, with some distant relatives calling for the bones to go to York, rather than Leicester. |
The project will be funded by Wellcome Trust, a medical research charity, the Leverhulme Trust and DNA fingerprinting and profiling pioneer Sir Alec Jeffreys. | The project will be funded by Wellcome Trust, a medical research charity, the Leverhulme Trust and DNA fingerprinting and profiling pioneer Sir Alec Jeffreys. |