Scientists have developed a non-destructive method for recovering cellular material from historic parchment manuscripts. The technique enables researchers to analyze ancient DNA preserved in parchment, offering new insights into trade, agriculture, livestock breeding and daily life across more than 1,300 years of history.
Parchment, which is made from animal skin, has been used for thousands of years across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. It served as the foundation for many historical records, including legal documents, religious texts and maps. Because animal skin can preserve biological material, parchment may contain valuable genetic clues in addition to the words written on its surface.
“Because parchment is made from animal skin, it is often possible to extract genetic information from it,” says Tim Stinson, corresponding author of the study and associate professor of English at North Carolina State University. “That genetic information provides a window into the past and can help answer questions about when and where a manuscript was created.”
Ancient DNA preserved in parchment
Genetic analysis of parchment can reveal far more than the origins of individual manuscripts. Since parchment was used for centuries, DNA recovered from these documents could help researchers track changes in livestock, identify the development of animal breeds and study diseases that affected domesticated animals.
“Because parchment has been used for such a long time and often contains detailed historical information, the genetic material preserved within it can also reveal how domesticated farm species evolved, how breeds developed and what diseases affected livestock,” says study co-author Matthew Breen, Oscar J. Fletcher Distinguished Professor of Comparative Oncology Genetics at North Carolina State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine.
Access to historic parchment has traditionally been one of the biggest challenges for this type of research. Libraries, museums and archives are understandably cautious about allowing scientists to remove samples from rare and culturally significant manuscripts, particularly when sampling could cause permanent damage.
“This paper is particularly important because one of the biggest challenges in the emerging field of genetic analysis is gaining access to historic parchment,” Stinson says. “Our study demonstrates that samples can be collected without damaging the parchment, marking a major step forward for the field.”
Researchers test 91 historic manuscripts
To test the new approach, researchers collected cellular samples from 91 manuscripts held in Duke University’s Rubenstein Library. The documents originated from regions including England and Ethiopia and date from the late eighth century to the early 20th century.
The sampling process is simple and non-invasive. Researchers gently brush the parchment with a dry cytology brush, the same type of brush used in Pap smear procedures. The brush collects cellular material while leaving the historic document intact.
“Cytology brushes can be used dry and are highly effective at collecting cellular material without compromising the integrity of the artifact,” Breen says.
After sampling, the team removes the collected material from the brush and applies forensic-grade next-generation sequencing technology to isolate, amplify and analyze the genetic sequences.
“We are using advanced genetic analysis and sequencing technologies to obtain new empirical information about historical cultures and agricultural practices,” Stinson says.
Ancient parchment offers new historical evidence
The ability to recover significant amounts of genetic information without harming parchment could allow libraries, museums and research institutions to study valuable manuscripts with greater confidence.
“We have shown that it is possible to extract vast amounts of new information from parchment without damaging it,” Breen says. “We hope this approach will help build trust with the organizations responsible for preserving these important historical documents.”
Researchers say historic parchment represents a largely unexplored source of evidence. Genetic data from manuscripts could help connect modern scientific research with questions traditionally examined by historians, archaeologists and other scholars.
“We are excited about the potential of this field and are seeking funding to explore it further,” Stinson says. “We have demonstrated that parchment is a vast and untapped source of historical information, and we hope to continue this pioneering work.”
“There is a tremendous opportunity here,” Breen says. “This is essentially a new field that brings together interdisciplinary expertise ranging from genetics to medieval history.”
The paper, “An Adventure in the Animal Archive: New Techniques for Genetic Analysis of Parchment Manuscripts,” is published open access in the journal Manuscript Research. The paper was co-authored by Melissa Schaible, a researcher at North Carolina State University; Rachel Thomas, senior research fellow at North Carolina State University; Benjamin Callahan, associate professor of population health and pathobiology at North Carolina State University; Nicholas Wagner, postdoctoral fellow at Duke University; and Kelly Meiklejohn, associate professor of forensic medicine at Western Sydney University.
Source: www.sciencedaily.com