Scientists to carry out DNA tests on skeletons of medieval Paget's Disease sufferers

This article originally appeared on Culture24.

Scientists hope to discover whether strain differs from modern bone disease

The expert techniques employed to analyse the body of Richard III will be used on six skeletons who scientists believe were medieval sufferers of Paget’s Disease, the chronic bone condition thought to affect more than 800,000 people in the UK today.

Dr Turi King, whose genome sequencing at the University of Leicester helped conclusively identify the King’s body, will join Dr Rob Layfield, a Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Nottingham, in carrying out molecular analysis on the skeletons held at Norton Priory, the Runcorn abbey complex with roots in the 12th century.

“The individuals we will be investigating date from the mid-13th century through to the 15th century,” says Lynn Smith, the Senior Keeper at the priory, calling the discovery of the disease within the skeletal collection “a fascinating subject”.

“We hope to find out if this form of strain of Paget’s Disease differs from that seen in modern day populations and even if these six men are related to one another. We are working closely with the Paget’s Association and sufferers of the disease to develop the interpretation.”

A wealth of genetic information will be revealed by the work, accompanied by a display, learning programme and science-based sessions with osteoarchaeologist Carla Burrell.

More than 1,500 schoolchildren are expected to take part in the project across Liverpool and Runcorn, funded by a Wellcome Trust grant of £116,000.

Norton Priory:

• The priory was founded in Norton, Cheshire in 1134 by William Fitznigel, 2nd Baron of Halton.
• The community living there were Canons, not Monks. They lived to the same standards as monks, in this case the rule of St Augustine, but engaged with the outside world.
• In 1536, the priory was dissolved as part of Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries and sold in 1545 to Sir Richard Brooke.
• The Brooke Family lived at Norton Priory, constantly rebuilding the place, until abandoning it in 1921.
• Today, Norton Priory is the most excavated monastic site in Europe and takes great pride in its international significant statue of St Christopher, patron saint of travelers.
• The grant will also fund interactive displays and school sessions in Norton Abbey’s new museum, due to open in August 2016.

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Three museums to see skeletons in:

The Novium, Chichester
Racton Man, a near-complete Bronze Age skeleton found in a field in West Sussex in 1989, is a six-foot warrior who became one of the key exhibits at the museum in 2014.

British Museum, London
Lindow Man is the most convincing evidence for human sacrifice in Iron Age Britain. Aged about 25, he met a horrific death in a bog in north-west England at about the time of the Roman Conquest of England. On display in Room 50.

Museum of London
The Shepperton Woman is one of the oldest people to have been found in the London region. Aged between 5,640 and 5,100 years old, the skeleton is displayed alongside a facial reconstruction.

Source: http://www.culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/archaeology/art532275-scientists-to-carry-out-dna-tests-on-skeletons-of-medieval-paget-disease-sufferers