Principal speaker
Professor David Lambert
Antarctica is not only the coldest place on earth, but also the driest place. This combination is ideal for the preservation of DNA. Adélie penguins that nest on the coastline of Antarctica in the summer months have been breeding there for many thousands of years. Underneath colonies of these birds are, literally, bones of their ancestors.
David Lambert’s research team have been recovering DNA from both living birds and from fossils dating to more than 40,000 years old. This research has stimulated studies of other ancient remains from temperate New Zealand through to arid parts of the world including Australia and Egypt.