63 research outputs found
How ancient microbial DNA, found in association with human remains, can be interpreted.
No full textThe analysis of the DNA of ancient micro–organisms in archaeological and palaeontological human remains can contribute to the understanding of issues as different as the spreading of a new disease, a mummification process or the effect of diets on historical human populations. The quest for this type of DNA, however, can represent a particularly demanding task. This is mainly due to the abundance and diffusion of bacteria, fungi, yeasts, algae and protozoans in the most diverse environments of the present–day biosphere and the resulting difficulty in distinguishing between ancient and modern DNA. Nevertheless, at least under some special circumstances, by using rigorous protocols, which include an archaeometric survey of the specimens and evaluation of the palaeoecological consistency of the results of DNA sequence analysis, glimpses of the composition of the original microbial flora (e.g. colonic flora) can be caught in ancient human remains. Potentials and pitfalls of this research field are illustrated by the results of research works performed on prehistoric, pre–Columbian and Renaissance human mummies
Craniofacial superimposition studies on a set of cosimo i de’ medici’s (1519-1574) and eleonora di toledo’s (1522-1562) portraits
Get PDFA set of portraits of the Florentine grand duke Cosimo I de’ Medici (1519-1574) and of his wife Eleonora di Toledo (1522–1562) painted by two major representatives of Florentine Mannerism (Italian Late Renaissance), Pontormo and Bronzino was compared with the skulls of the two subjects utilizing the forensic technique of craniofacial superimposition. The results show that, in the case of Cosimo I, both a painting (Pontormo, workshop of, Cosimo I de’ Medici, 1537) and a drawing (Pontormo, Cosimo I de’ Medici in Profile, 1537) show lack of fit with the skull in four points (the glabellar outline, the depth of the nasal bridge, the bony lateral wall of the orbit, and the outline of the frontal process of the zygomatic bone). The drawing, therefore, seems to contradict the well established idea that Renaissance painters prepared lifelike sketches of their sitters which were then modified when transferred to the painting. In the case of Eleonora di Toledo, on the other hand, craniofacial superimposition analysis reveals that Bronzino, possibly as the result of a desperate search for the “best angle” of the sitter, adopted an unusual perspective to portray the duchess (Bronzino, Eleonora di Toledo, c. 1539) possibly looking down the sitter, by standing, while the sitter was seated in front of him. The face of the sitter was subsequently, in another painting (Bronzino, Eleonora di Toledo and Her Son Giovanni, c. 1544-45) “transplanted” onto the rest of the body given the impression that the duchess “looks” at the viewer from above. © 2016 Romanian Society of Legal Medicine
DNA antico
No full textDNA antico In biologia molecolare, qualsiasi traccia di DNA proveniente da organismi estinti o estratto da resti scheletrici fossili, per il cui studio a partire dalla seconda metà degli anni Ottanta l'impiego della tecnica della reazione a catena della polimerasi (PCR, Polymerase chain reaction) ha fornito ai ricercatori di paleontologia e di archeologia molecolare un potente strumento di amplificazione genica in vitro
La sifilide nel rinascimento: identificazione di sequenze ribosomiali batteriche nel DNA isolato dalla mummia di Maria D'Aragona (XVI)
No full textHepatitis E virus (HEV) RNA sequences in the DNA of Maria of Aragon (1503-1568): paleopathological evidence or anthropological marker?
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Oetzi's last meals: DNA analysis of the intestinal content of the Neolithic glacier mummy from the Alps.
No full textPhylogenetic analysis of Veneridae (Bivalvia):comparison of molecular and palaeontological data
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