“New polymerases for old DNA: molecular breeding of polymerases for damage bypass and amplification of ancient DNA”

A talk followed by discussion with Phil Holliger from the Medical Research Council Molecular Biology Lab in Cambridge. Phil works with ancient DNA: DNA samples retrieved from specimens of forensic, paleontological or archaeological interest. DNA naturally degrades over time, making it very difficult to amplify and analyse, and Phil will be talking about a new way to more accurately repair the damage, which he recently tried out on a 60,000 year-old cave bear.

All welcome – no specialist knowledge is expected, so please do come along. Any questions or for a TP, IM Joanna Wombat.

Location: Second Nature (http://slurl.com/secondlife/Second%20Nature/217/212/28)

Time (thanks to Troy McLuhan for excellent grip of timezones!):

11 AM SL Time (Pacific Time)
2 PM EDT
6 PM GMT
7 PM BST (London, England)

More info: http://network.nature.com/blogs/user/joannascott