Reviving Stone Age Molecules
Scientists are rebuilding microbial natural products up to 100,000 years old using dental calculus of humans and Neanderthals
Breakthroughs in ancient genome reconstruction and biotechnology are now revealing the rich molecular secrets of Paleolithic microorganisms. In a new study, a transdisciplinary team of researchers led by the Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology, the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, and Harvard University reconstructed bacterial genomes of previously unknown bacteria dating to the Pleistocene. Using their genetic blueprints, they built a biotechnology platform to revive the ancient bacteria’s natural products.
Publication: MARTIN KLAPPER, et al., Natural products from reconstructed bacterial genomes of the Middle and Upper Paleolithic, SCIENCE (2023). DOI: 10.1126/science.adf5300
Original Story Source: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
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