Radek is a genetic scientist who works for a bioengineering

Radek is a genetic scientist who works for a bio-engineering firm. Dr. Livingston comes to Radek with the feather of a Dodo bird encased in amber. Dr. Livingston wants to extract the DNA from the feather and patent it. Can Dr. Livingston and Radek patent the Dodo DNA?

Solution

Yes. Dr. Livingston and Radek patent the Dodo DNA.
Feathers have DNA, though in a very small amount, at their base, i.e. calamus. Feathers are made up of beta keratin. So the usual method for DNA extraction will not be able to dissolve the feathers in the extraction buffer. Instead, an extraction can be carried out by cutting the feathers in pieces as small as possible followed by digesting the keratin by DTT with prolonged incubation to obtain the maximum possible DNA present in the feathers. After digetsion of the feathers, the extraction is carried out according to a standard DNA isolation tissue kit. The extracted DNA should then be amplified by PCR for any further investigations.