Applied Biosystems in mummy lab project

Applied Biosystems reveals it has collaborated in a project to create Egypt’s first DNA laboratory dedicated to testing mummified remains.

The firm has contributed to a facility housed by the Egyptian Museum of Cairo, it announces.

A combination of nuclear and mitochondrial testing is now underway to determine the DNA profiles of mummies in an attempt to identify female pharaoh Hatshepsut.

While nuclear testing provides a full DNA profile, the degradation of mummified samples means mitochondrial analysis may also be required, Applied Biosystems explains.

The latter process only identifies the maternal DNA sequence, with the researchers explaining that it is used to fill gaps where the nuclear sequence is incomplete.

Nicola Oldroyd, senior forensic specialist at Applied Biosystems, states: "We are excited to bring our latest advances in genetic analysis to this and similar future projects in Egypt."

The supplied equipment includes the manufacturer’s 3130 genetic analyser, which promises the ability to read longer samples with a shorter overall run time.