Dna Sequencing - GoKawiil

Ancient sheeppox DNA recovered from medieval parchment manuscripts

Researchers extracted and sequenced viral DNA preserved in the animal-skin parchment of medieval manuscripts, tracing sheeppox virus's evolutionary history back roughly 3,500 years. The study, published in Science Advances and led by University College Dublin's Louis L'Hôte, demonstrates that parchment can act as a repository for ancient pathogen genomes, not just host DNA.

arstechnica.com · 2026-09-04

Researchers mutate nearly every nucleotide of phage ΦX174, exposing AI prediction gaps

Scientists led by Ben Lehner at the Wellcome Sanger Institute created over 44,000 genetic variants of the well-studied bacteriophage ΦX174 by systematically altering nearly every nucleotide and amino acid in its genome. They measured how each change affected the virus's ability to survive and replicate in bacterial cultures, finding that most mutations were harmful but that the reasons behind roughly a quarter of these lethal effects remain unexplained.

nature.com · 2026-09-01