The Keble Advanced Studies Centre
11
Advanced Studies Centre
n 2009, in a cave in the Altai region of Siberia called
Denisova, archaeologists excavated a piece of a
tiny nondescript finger bone. It came from the end
of the little finger, from a 9 or 10 year-old child. The
bone was analysed by my friend Johannes Krause, a
DNA specialist at the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig.
The Max Planck is the laboratory where the complete
Neanderthal genome was recently identified and it is
at the forefront of a new field called ‘archaeogenetics’.
Tiny human bones can reveal huge amounts of
information regarding our human story when they
contain even traces of DNA: who we are, who we are
closely related to, what we look like and our disease
history. Like almost everyone else, Johannes assumed
the bone would turn out to be a piece of modern
human bone, but he was wrong. The DNA analysis
turned up something completely unexpected. The
bone was from a new species of human being never
before identified. Krause called Svante Paabo, the
head of the lab, who was away at a conference in the
US, to deliver the stunning news, after confirming
it with close colleagues. He said later that it was
‘scientifically the most exciting day of my life’. Since
then Denisova and ‘the Denisovans’ have been on the
lips of every scientist working in human evolution and
palaeoanthropology.
I am tremendously fortunate to be a member of
the Denisova research team and spent ten days this
summer at the site and others in the wider region.
Russian archaeologists are tough, they often have
to spend weeks and weeks in difficult conditions
at sites miles away from civilisation. Archaeology
is unpredictable, one never knows when one might
stumble upon something interesting. It’s that possibility
that keeps our colleagues searching and digging. In
the wake of the Denisovan find there is an increased
urgency this season and an excitement in the various
excavation camps we visit. One can sense the hope
amongst them that they will be next to experience that
golden moment of discovery.
Of course these moments of excitement can occur
in a cave in Russia, but just as easily in front of a
computer screen, whilst reading a medieval manuscript
in the Bodleian library or looking down a test tube in a
chemistry laboratory in the Science area. Discoveries
may be serendipitous but more often are the outcome
of careful, planned research. At Keble we have a
fellowship of research active scholars. We are fortunate
to work in an institution in which interdisciplinarity is
a long-standing tradition and colleagues engage with
one another within an environment in which knowledge
and ideas are cherished and easily shared. In considering
the history of science and of major discoveries one is
often struck by the tendency for new insights to be
generated by people working at the boundary between
two disciplines. The Denisovan case is a good example.
Here archaeology, molecular biology and medical
science are the three key disciplines. Our various
Advanced Studies Centre research clusters bring
together researchers in varied disciplines to work on
problems, some of which affect the future of humanity
in the twenty-first century. By working to our College
strengths, to our interdisciplinarity and our fellowship,
as well as with our postgraduate or undergraduate
students, we hope to continue to foster the addictive
and fundamental joy of discovery here at Keble.
My arrival back in Oxford coincided with a lunchtime
conversation with Prof Steve Faulkner of the ASC
Imaging Cluster that confirmed to me that this
approach is really bearing fruit. His group is studying
chemical agents that can be used to image cancer,
inflammation and neurodegeneration. In this context,
and supported from the outset by the ASC, they have
been working on imaging agents that are absorbed by
healthy tissue but not diseased tissue. A succession of
breakthroughs puts them on the brink of using these
agents to track the progress of diseases in the human
body.
The greatest thrill of doing science lies in those brief
and rare moments when one gains a totally new
scientific insight and is able to share it with others.
The Denisovan find reminds me of how tremendous
discoveries can occur seemingly from nowhere, and
why basic research is such a thrill. It is so important
that we continue to encourage Keble research, promote
fundamental enquiry and the joy of discovery.
I am often asked what is meant by ‘interdisciplinarity’,
a term that is used a lot in relation to the Advanced
Studies Centre. The best answer I can give is by way of
a recent example from my own research field.
i
Director’s Update
The Advanced
Studies Centre
at Keble aims
to develop and
encourage research
within the College,
particularly
interdisciplinary
research. Director
Professor Tom
Higham assesses
the challenges.
Professor Tom Higham
Director of the ASC
