SciLifeLab Ancient DNA facility

SciLifeLab, Science for Life Laboratory, is an institution for the advancement of molecular biosciences in Sweden. We are funded as a national research infrastructure by the Swedish government. Our organization leverages the unique strengths of individual researchers across Sweden into a focused resource for the life science community. We provide access for thousands of researchers to the cutting-edge instrumentation and deep scientific expertise necessary to be internationally competitive in bioscience research. This infrastructure is supported and developed by our research community, including internationally recognized experts in life science and technology. Our facilities and expertise create a unique environment for carrying out health and environmental research at the highest level. Analysis of ancient DNA is a recent development in heritage science that has transformed our understanding of human history and migration. DNA is the carrier of genetic information and is present inside each cell in an organism and specifies all the heritable traits of an individual. Ancient DNA is a time capsule that allows investigation of what life was like in the past, in some instances hundreds of thousands of years ago. The Science for Life Laboratories Ancient DNA Facility (ADF) is a new facility being designed to handle the increasing demand for genetic data from historic and prehistoric material. As the possibilities springing from this type of data increases, so does the demand for it. ADF will provide services for material from museums, archaeological and palaeontological excavations, and from any general context containing degraded material. The services will include screening of ancient DNA (aDNA) from human remains, screening of aDNA from non-human remains, deep-sequencing of screened material that allows for it, and population genetic consulting. The ADF will be located in two nodes: at Stockholm University, and at Uppsala University. These two universities embodies Sweden’s most advanced research in the field of aDNA, and hosts a conglomerate research collaboration (the labs of Anders Götherström at SU and Mattias Jakobsson at UU) in the absolute research front of the field. The ADF will be integrated into the academic life of these two units. The facility will have its own explicit laboratory facilities, personnel, and mission to service Swedish academia.