The researchers are hopeful the breakthrough will allow them to study how RNA viruses evolve.
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00:17 We got in contact and they asked me whether it would be possible to sample one of our
00:22 Tylosines and I suggested this one because it is the most naturally preserved that we have, so it's only dried.
00:31 We have two other ones which are mounted and one is preserved in ethanol, so in alcohol.
00:37 So I thought this one would be the most potentially good for recovering RNA.
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01:00 The aim of this research project was not to resurrect the Tylosine per se, it was rather to try to understand more about Tylosine's biology,
01:10 so which genes were expressed in the skin for example and we do find RNA from one particular gene that is one gene in a large family of genes
01:20 that normally help build up the skin tissue, so now we know that this particular gene in the Tylosine was important for that.
01:28 So it's very basic research, but we also think it's an interesting proof of concept in the sense that if you can get RNA from dry specimens
01:38 that are held in museum collections and have been there for over 100 years, then there is a broad array of different studies you could do in the future.
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