Scientists will map the King Richard III's genomes

Illustration picture of King Richard III. 
(Picture from:  http://teknologi.news.viva.co.id/)

A year after the findings reveal the skeletal remains of King Richard III, British scientists plan to pound his bone samples and use it to map the genome (related article). 

The project, which may change the perception of the last king of England who was killed in battle more than 500 years ago, aimed to study the health and descendants of King Richard III, and provide genetic archive for historians, researchers and the public.

In one recent important archaeological findings on the history of England, split skull and skeleton with the spine curved dug under the parking area and the city of Leicester last year revealed that the king was killed while fighting to retain the crown at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485.

The remains of England's King Richard III, which were found in Leicester, England, in Sept. 2012.. (Picture from: http://www.abc.net.au/)

After taking a small sample of bone from the skeleton, Turi King from the Department of Genetics at the University of Leicester will grind into a powder, extracting the DNA and try to unify the genetic code of King Richard III.

"It's a little like a puzzle. You put it together to get as much of the genome," said King told reporters when giving a description of the project on Tuesday, February 11, 2014. King said because the rest of the framework and samples taken by her team to be buried again, is it right to extract and sequence DNA genome for future research sources.

She reminded that however, because it is very old skeletal remains, DNA fragmented and may not be able to produce a complete genetic map. "There may be a gap, but we will try with what we can get. That was sciences, unfortunately," she said.

King said the research was aimed to gain insight into the genetic makeup of Richard, including susceptibility to certain diseases as well as hair and eye color. "One of the interesting things for me is .. if we could see whether King Richard III scoliosis (a condition that causes curved spine), for example," she said.

The genes mapping are also expected to bring light on the genetic ancestry and their relationship to modern human populations. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | CBS NEWS | ABC NEWS]

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