International cooperation

Radiocarbon dating of Steller's cow samples, necessary for the selection of the most interesting of them for subsequent deep sequencing, will be carried out in South Korea.

Our team members visited the AMS (Accelerator Mass Spectrometry) dating center at the Korean Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM) in Daejeon, South Korea. Artem Nedoluzhko got acquainted with the equipment used by the laboratory to date historical objects, and held a meeting with the director of the center, Professor Hong Wan. During the meeting, the process of dating samples of Steller's cow was discussed before the selection and launch of the procedure for deep DNA sequencing of some of them.

The importance of genetic analysis of samples from different historical periods (late Pleistocene and Holocene) and regions (Commander and Kuril Islands) was emphasized in order to cover as much as possible the genetic variability of this extinct animal.

Artem Nedoluzhko also visited the Genomics Laboratory at the Ulsan National Institute of Science & Technology, wh ere he discussed the possibilities of joint genomic studies of extinct and endangered animal species with Professor Jong Bhak. In addition, he gave a lecture for university staff on the topic: «Genomics of the Steller's sea cow, population dynamics of this species, causes of its extinction, and the de-extinction program».