科学家从一块5700年前的“口香糖”中提取DNA

Scientists at the University of Copenhagen have extracted a Stone Age woman’s DNA from 5,700-year-old “chewing gum.”

哥本哈根大学的科学家们从5700年前的“口香糖”中提取了一名石器时代女性的DNA。

The “gum” is made from birch pitch, according to researchers, and was once chewed by the Stone Age woman. Birch pitch is a substance made by heating birch bark. Researchers successfully extracted a complete human genome from the birch pitch, which was found in Southern Denmark.

据研究人员称，这种“口香糖”是由桦树沥青制成的，石器时代的妇女曾嚼过这种口香糖。桦木沥青是一种通过加热桦树皮制成的物质。研究人员成功地从丹麦南部发现的桦树沥青中提取了完整的人类基因组。

“It is amazing to have gotten a complete ancient human genome from anything other than bone,” project leader Hannes Schroeder, an associate professor at the University of Copenhagen’s Globe Institute, said in a statement. “What is more, we also retrieved DNA from oral microbes and several important human pathogens, which makes this a very valuable source of ancient DNA, especially for time periods where we have no human remains.”

哥本哈根大学地球研究所的副教授、项目负责人Hannes Schroeder在一份声明中说:“能从骨头以外的任何东西获得完整的古人类基因组，这太令人吃惊了。”“更重要的是，我们还从口腔微生物和几种重要的人类病原体中提取了DNA，这使得它成为一个非常有价值的古代DNA来源，尤其是在我们没有人类遗体的时期。”

DNA analysis revealed that the birch pitch was chewed by a female, who is described as genetically closer to hunter-gatherers from mainland Europe than the inhabitants of Scandinavia at that time. Researchers believe that the woman likely had dark skin, dark hair and blue eyes.

DNA分析显示，这块口香糖是由一位女性咀嚼的，她被描述为在基因上比斯堪的纳维亚半岛的居民更接近欧洲大陆的狩猎采集者。研究人员认为，这名女子可能有深色皮肤、深色头发和蓝色眼睛。