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Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
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The Ancient Biomolecules Initiative is a £ 1.9 million NERC programme to explore the biomolecular record of past life which is entombed in archaeological and geological material. The findings have applications in archaeology, anthropology, forensic science, research into the past climates and oil exploration.
Working at the cutting edge of genetic and other molecular technology, ABI scientists have been probing the remains of the building blocks of life - DNA, proteins and fats - in sediments and fossilised plants and ancient animal remains, including human skeletons, sacrifical llamas, cattle, wild horses, dinosaur bones and insects preserved in amber.
This resource consists of a series of leaflets in PDF format which describe the key findings of the project .
1. Ancient biomolecules tell the tale | 669Kb | |
2. ABI Principal Investigators | 1598Kb | |
3. Who were our ancestors | 523Kb | |
4. The DNA detectives | 1383Kb | |
5. Who populated the Pacific | 881Kb | |
6. DNA on the hoof | 1045Kb | |
7. Cattle ancient and modern | 1042Kb | |
8. Sacrificial llamas and DNA | 1241Kb | |
9. New ways with old wheats | 979Kb | |
10. Who tamed Sorghum | 971Kb | |
11. Red light for Amber DNA | 502Kb | |
12. Ancient life in salt mines | 447Kb | |
13. Cuticles of fossil plants | 827Kb | |
14. Ancient Insects | 618Kb | |
15. Solving the insoluble | 2068Kb | |
16. Chemical fossils of ancient bacteria | 449Kb | |
17. Simulating bacterial decay | 385Kb | |
18. Water - the 'sore decayer' | 691Kb | |
19. Protein in dinosaur bones | 444Kb |