title: Engineered polymerases amplify the potential of ancient DNA.
abstract: The generation of genomic data from mammoths and Neanderthals has reinvigorated discussion about whether extinct species could be brought back within the foreseeable future. However, post-mortem DNA decay rapidly reduces the number and quality of surviving DNA fragments, consequently increasing rates of sequencing error and forming a significant obstacle to accurate sequence reconstruction. Recent work has shown that it is possible to engineer a polymerase capable of using even highly damaged fragments as template sequences.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, 326 Mueller Laboratory, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16801, USA. beth.shapiro@psu.edu
authors.forename: Beth
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Shapiro
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry*; D004259:DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics*; D005580:Fossils; D005821:Genetic Techniques; D006801:Humans; D015202:Protein Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D004247:DNA; D004259:DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase