In a world first an international team of researchers, led by Dr Michael Bunce of Murdoch University, have successfully isolated ancient DNA from fossil eggshell remains of extinct birds. (Credit: Image courtesy of Murdoch University)

Prabhupada, June 30, 1976, Wheeling, W. Virginia: […] Anyone can see the composition of egg, a little white and yellow substance. There are many chemicals, they are all white, and there are many chemicals yellow also. Combine together and put it in the incubator and see whether chicken is coming or not. And still they will assert, write big, big books, that life is coming out of chemicals. And people are accepting this bluff. So it is very precarious condition of present world. People want to be bluffed and there are many bluffers. And they are satisfied that “I am bluffed by a big bluffer.” That’s all. This is going on.

Darby: These scientists think about making life with chemicals, yet none of them have even been able to begin their experiments.

Prabhupada: I have therefore said, “Make a small egg, then talk of big, big things.”

Fossil Bird Eggshell Provides Source of Ancient DNA

ScienceDaily (Mar. 12, 2010) — In a world first an international team of researchers, led by Dr Michael Bunce of Murdoch University, have successfully isolated ancient DNA from fossil eggshell remains of extinct birds.

“We were really surprised to discover that ancient DNA is well-preserved in fossil eggshells, particularly the heaviest bird to have existed the elephant bird called Aepyornis, which is now extinct,” said Murdoch doctoral student Charlotte Oskam, who undertook the research.

“Researchers have tried unsuccessfully to isolate DNA from fossil eggshell for years — it just turned out that they were using a method designed for bone that was not suitable for fossil eggshell.”

The new study published this week in the scientific journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B describes how DNA up to 19,000 years old is an excellent source of ancient DNA especially in warmer climates such as Australia.

Fossil eggshells are frequently recovered from deposits across the globe and have been extensively used as a tool for radiocarbon dating and as a proxy to study past environments.

Now, thanks to this new study, a DNA profile will be added to these datasets.

The ancient DNA research team now plans to study eggshell from a number of archaeological sites in New Zealand to investigate how humans interacted with another giant bird, the moa, which went extinct nearly 600 years ago due to hunting pressures.