Search Here

A new project set up by the Wellcome Trust, the Leverhulme Trust and Professor Sir Alec Jeffreys will sequence the genomes of the late King Richard III and one of his identified living close relative. The project, which will be headed by Dr. Turi King from the Department of Genetics at the University of Leicester, aims to examine the two specimen's health and potentially create an archive of data that could be helpful for fellow researchers.

Richard III will be added to the small list of ancient people who have had their genomes sequences. The other individuals included Otzi the Iceman, a few Neanderthals, a Spaniard hunter-gatherer, a Denisovan, and a Greenlandic Inuit. After King Richard III's bones were discovered at a car park located in Leicester, the researchers knew that they had to jump on the opportunity to study the bones of an identified individual, which has never been done before.

"It is an extremely rare occurrence that archaeologists are involved in the excavation of a known individual, let alone a king of England. At the same time we are in the midst of a new age of genetic research, with the ability to sequence entire genomes from ancient individuals and with them, those of pathogens that may have caused infectious disease. Sequencing the genome of Richard III is a hugely important project that will help to teach us not only about him, but ferment discussion about how our DNA informs our sense of identity, our past and our future," King said according to the press release.

King will work with Professor Michael Hofreiter at the University of Potsdam in analyzing Richard III's DNA. They plan on uncovering his genetic make-up, which could reveal hair color, eye color, any risks of certain diseases, and genetic data on particular diseases that might not have been identified before. The researchers will look for similarities between Richard III and modern day individuals.

"There are no contemporary portraits of Richard," said King reported by CNN. "All the portraits that exist post-date his death by about 40 to 50 years onwards. So it's going to be interesting to see what the genetic information provides in relation to what we know from the portraits."

The other individual that will also be examined is Michael Isben, who is the closest living relative to Richard III. The research team will look for genetic similarities. The data uncovered will also be available to the public who might want to compare their own genome to the late king's.