Slip Me Some Skin

Scientists tracing the history of livestock breeding probe parchment documents for genetic information.

| 4 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
4:00
Share

SKIN IN THE GAME: Parchment manufacture marks in a church register from 1853–1858 (left), and a sewn repair in an even older manuscript from 1306–1311 (below)BY PERMISSION OF THE BORTHWICK INSTITUTE FOR ARCHIVES

The Borthwick Institute for Archives, housed at the University of York in the U.K., boasts thousands of church documents, some of which date back to before 1300, as well as troves of medical illustrations, architectural drawings, and records of the British-Caribbean slave trade. But recently, a team of biologists began digging into the Borthwick’s records in search of a different sort of information: genetic material that is yielding insights into the selective breeding of farm animals.

Rather than rely solely on scarce, weather-beaten bones to reconstruct the animals’ genetic histories, the researchers decided to extract DNA from pieces of 17th- and 18th-century parchment. Produced from the skins of sheep, goats, and cattle, parchment was commonly used as a writing substrate until paper came into wide ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to digital editions of The Scientist, as well as TS Digest, feature stories, more than 35 years of archives, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Keywords

Meet the Author

  • Molly Sharlach

    This person does not yet have a bio.

Published In

Share
3D illustration of a gold lipid nanoparticle with pink nucleic acid inside of it. Purple and teal spikes stick out from the lipid bilayer representing polyethylene glycol.
February 2025, Issue 1

A Nanoparticle Delivery System for Gene Therapy

A reimagined lipid vehicle for nucleic acids could overcome the limitations of current vectors.

View this Issue
Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Lonza
An illustration of animal and tree silhouettes.

From Water Bears to Grizzly Bears: Unusual Animal Models

Taconic Biosciences
Sex Differences in Neurological Research

Sex Differences in Neurological Research

bit.bio logo
New Frontiers in Vaccine Development

New Frontiers in Vaccine Development

Sino

Products

Tecan Logo

Tecan introduces Veya: bringing digital, scalable automation to labs worldwide

Explore a Concise Guide to Optimizing Viral Transduction

A Visual Guide to Lentiviral Gene Delivery

Takara Bio
Inventia Life Science

Inventia Life Science Launches RASTRUM™ Allegro to Revolutionize High-Throughput 3D Cell Culture for Drug Discovery and Disease Research

An illustration of differently shaped viruses.

Detecting Novel Viruses Using a Comprehensive Enrichment Panel

Twist Bio