英语训练：考古家从骨头中提取DNA

英语自学网

　　RICHMOND， Va. - Archaeologists have successfully extracted DNA from
skeleton remains under an English church that could prove a skeleton found near
Jamestown belongs to one of its founders， the Church of England announced
Thursday.
        　　British and American researchers began work Monday to remove a small part
of Elizabeth Gosnold Tilney's skeleton from beneath the floor of All Saints
Church in the English village of Shelley， 60 miles northeast of London. She is
the sister of Capt. Batholomew Gosnold， who oversaw the expedition that led to
the 1607 founding of Jamestown， the first permanent English settlement.
        　　Scientists working with skeletal remains can only trace DNA through
maternal relatives. An attempt to locate the remains of Gosnold's niece，
Katherine Blackerby， were unsuccessful.Other evidence already suggests that a
nearly intact skeleton found outside the site of the Jamestown Fort is
Gosnold's， but a DNA match would be confirmation.
        　　Tilney's sample will be analyzed at the Smithsonian National Museum of
Natural History in Washington， D.C.， and compared to a sample taken from the
skeleton believed to be Gosnold's， the church said.Special permission for the
excavations was required from the Church of England.