Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

3 ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN JoVE

Biology

Primer Extension Capture: Targeted Sequence Retrieval from Heavily Degraded DNA Sources

Adrian W. Briggs¹, Jeffrey M. Good¹, Richard E. Green¹, Johannes Krause¹, Tomislav Maricic¹, Udo Stenzel¹, Svante Pääbo¹

¹Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig

We present a method of targeted ancient DNA sequence retrieval, which we used to reconstruct the complete mitochondrial genomes of five Neandertal individuals. Comparison of these sequences with present day humans suggests that Neandertals had a long term low effective population size.

Bioengineering

Manipulation of Single Neural Stem Cells and Neurons in Brain Slices using Robotic Microinjection

Gabriella Shull^*1,2, Christiane Haffner^*3, Wieland B. Huttner³, Elena Taverna^3,4, Suhasa B. Kodandaramaiah^1,5,6

¹Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Minnesota, ²Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, ³Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, ⁴Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, ⁵Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota, ⁶Graduate Program in Neuroscience, University of Minnesota

This protocol demonstrates the use of a robotic platform for microinjection into single neural stem cells and neurons in brain slices. This technique is versatile and offers a method of tracking cells in tissue with high spatial resolution.

Genetics

Optimized Bone Sampling Protocols for the Retrieval of Ancient DNA from Archaeological Remains

Cody E. Parker^1,2, Kirsten I. Bos^1,3, Wolfgang Haak^1,3, Johannes Krause^1,3

¹Department of Archaeogenetics, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, ²School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, ³Department of Archaeogenetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

The protocol presents a series of best practice protocols for the collection of bone powder from eight recommended anatomical sampling locations (specific locations on a given skeletal element) across five different skeletal elements from medieval individuals (radiocarbon dated to a period of ca. 1040-1400 CE, calibrated 2-sigma range).