Research project Paleotranscriptomics

In collaboration with Love Dalén (Center for Palaeogenetics) and Tom Gilbert (Centre for Evolutionary Hologenomics) we have recently shown that RNA can be detected and sequenced from ancient canid samples >14,000 years old, and we provide evidence for the authenticity of these samples in three different ways. First, some of the sequences originate from canid-specific microRNAs, that never evolved in other species. Second, the sequences display characteristic damage patterns of ancient nucleic acids. Third, the transcriptome profiles of the ancient samples resemble those of corresponding modern tissues – for instance ancient canid liver resembles modern dog liver. We are now sequencing more ancient samples, with the purpose of discovering new species-specific microRNAs that may give insights into the physiology, adaption and extinction of ancient megafauna. In a parallel research line, we also study RNA from recently extinct animal species such as the Thylacine (Tasmanian tiger).