The origins, politics and motivations of the people who sequence age-old genomes.
, the field has tried to distance itself from de-extinction and dinosaurs in a quest for credibility, shifting its focus to other headline-grabbing topics including human origins and prehistory. Nonetheless, Jones argues, that first quagga paper set the template for ancient-DNA research: newsworthy studies, published in ‘top-tier’ journals.
Jones’s interviewees are frank about the extent to which media attention sets their research agenda. They often choose charismatic subject matter and species, thinking these carry weight with funders and journal editors. Who, asks one researcher, “cares aboutI suspect Jones is concerned that her characterization won’t go down well with her interviewees, aware that celebrity is often equated to superficiality.
She judges success by the same inward-looking lights as her interviewees — funding, top-tier papers and ‘impact’ are good for careers, but are they good for science? In charting the history of this relatively young field that has developed in tandem with metric- and impact-led agendas in academia, Jones’s book provides a window into how these shape research that is relevant to us all, not just a ‘celebrity science’ such as ancient DNA.
As a ‘celebrity’, it seems only fitting that ancient DNA should get its own funny, revealing biography before it turns 50. So what is next? The growth and success of ancient-DNA research means that it is no longer a coherent field, so much as a tool used by other disciplines, and better for it. Its technical limits are still being pushed, and there’s growing attention to other ancient biomolecules, such as RNA and proteins.
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