Turkey to launch first anthropology DNA laboratory

ANKARA

Turkey will on Friday launch its first "ancient DNA laboratory" which will conduct scientific research on mummified remains of Anatolian civilizations dating back 10,000-15,000 years.

The molecular anthropology laboratory at Hacettepe University in the capital Ankara will examine hereditary and bacterial diseases of ancient humans and animals.

DNA are important building blocks of life that contain hereditary information to be transferred to the next generation, Anthropology professor Yilmaz Selim Erdal told Anadolu Agency.

Noting that there were only a small number of such facilities in the world, Erdal said the laboratory building was specially designed for protection of the DNA from outside contamination by living organisms such as bacteria and fungi.

Erdal said that DNA analysis would also help illuminate the history, relations, movements and culture of human communities and civilizations that have lived in Anatolia and the surrounding areas in the last 10,000-15,000 years.

"We will confirm the information obtained by archaeological data with DNA studies and reveal the unknown sides of history," he said.

Research would not be limited only to Turkey, but would also be conducted on other regions, particularly neighboring countries, Erdal said.

* Writing by Jeyhun Aliyev