Turkey launches first anthropology DNA laboratory

Turkey has launched its first "ancient DNA laboratory" which will conduct scientific research on mummified remains of Anatolian civilizations dating back 10,000-15,000 years.
The molecular anthropology laboratory at Hacettepe University (HU) in Turkey's capital Ankara will examine hereditary and bacterial diseases of ancient humans and animals.
The head of HU's anthropology department, Professor Yılmaz Selim Erdal, told the state-run Anadolu Agency that all living creatures' deoxyribonucleic acid, which we know as DNA, are important building blocks of life that contain hereditary information to be transferred to the next generation, adding that the DNA structure is different for every species.
Erdal said that Hacettepe University Skeletal Biology Laboratory in the anthropology department is among the most important laboratories in the world with about 12,000 human skeletons included in the collection from each region of Turkey since the 1990s.
He said that the "DNA's new sequencing" studies carried out over the last 10 years provides a better reading of the DNAs of the ancient societies.
The HU Molecular Anthropology Laboratory (Ancient DNA Laboratory - HUMAN_G) will be the first of its kind in Turkey, he added.
Stating that the laboratory building was specially designed to provide good protection to the DNA of the genetic treasure, Erdal said that DNA analysis in ancient ruins can only be done in special DNA laboratories because of contamination of living organisms such as bacteria, fungi and yeast into bones.
"The number of centers capable of doing this kind of research in the world is very low. For this reason, having this laboratory in our country is very important to uncover the hidden DNA treasure of Anatolia," he added.
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