05-01-2022, 01:35 PM
(This post was last modified: 05-01-2022, 01:37 PM by Mark Knowles.)
It worth noting that whenever I look into different aspects of this subject it is clear, maybe unsurprisingly, that the science is developing fast. Many things that could be seen as pure fantasy 20 years ago are reality now, so it is not unreasonable to consider what may be reality in 20 more years.
One thing I think it is important to note is the idea popularised in the book and movie "Jurassic Park" of extracting DNA from dinosaurs so as to bring them back to life now appears to be impossible, because in 60 million years the DNA would be so degraded as to make sequencing impossible. So there are genuine limits as to what is possible and what is not. However the mere 600 years, by comparison, of the Voynich is clearly a hugely shorter timeframe, though touch DNA maybe smaller in quantity and may degrade much more rapidly than DNA extracted from bone, though I see no reason as yet to believe this DNA will be too degraded.
I am generally even more optimistic about what can be done once the DNA is sequenced. Once that is done we move from the very specific problem pertaining to extracting and locating specific touch DNA from an ancient manuscript to a very general problem of identifying an individual from their DNA on the basis of how they are related to other individuals from a very large human database. I would have thought these techniques will continue to develop rapidly. Likewise determining characteristics from DNA is an area which will continue to develop rapidly.
One thing I think it is important to note is the idea popularised in the book and movie "Jurassic Park" of extracting DNA from dinosaurs so as to bring them back to life now appears to be impossible, because in 60 million years the DNA would be so degraded as to make sequencing impossible. So there are genuine limits as to what is possible and what is not. However the mere 600 years, by comparison, of the Voynich is clearly a hugely shorter timeframe, though touch DNA maybe smaller in quantity and may degrade much more rapidly than DNA extracted from bone, though I see no reason as yet to believe this DNA will be too degraded.
I am generally even more optimistic about what can be done once the DNA is sequenced. Once that is done we move from the very specific problem pertaining to extracting and locating specific touch DNA from an ancient manuscript to a very general problem of identifying an individual from their DNA on the basis of how they are related to other individuals from a very large human database. I would have thought these techniques will continue to develop rapidly. Likewise determining characteristics from DNA is an area which will continue to develop rapidly.