DNA detective Turi King
The Life Scientific
BBC
4.6 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 9 July 2019
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
When a skeleton was unearthed in 2012 from under the tarmac of a car park in Leicester, Turi King needed to gather irrefutable evidence to prove that this really was the body of Richard III, England's infamous medieval monarch.
Under the microscope was not only the king's genetic identity, but his entire reputation. Was Richard a ruthless villain, as depicted by Shakespeare? Or did the incoming Tudors spread 'fake news' to besmirch his name? As Jim discovers, clues in his skeletal remains have helped to solve some of these mysteries, and reveal the real Richard III.
When she was young, Turi King wanted to be the next Indiana Jones. Her love of archaeology led her to study genetics so she could use ancient DNA to solve historic mysteries.
She tells Jim how genetic testing, of both the dead skeleton and his living relatives, provided the vital evidence they needed to identify Richard III. But first, she had to extract his DNA, by pulling out one of his teeth.
Producer: Michelle Martin
Main image: Turi King Credit: Jonathan Sisson
Transcript
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| 0:39.0 | If I asked you what you might expect to find under the Tarmac of a social services car park, the last |
| 0:45.1 | thing you'd probably say is Richard the third. My guest today is the scientist |
| 0:49.3 | whose job it was to prove that the 500-year-old skeleton unearthed in Leicester was indeed the infamous medieval king killed at the Battle of Bosworth. |
| 0:58.8 | The tale unfolded into a dramatic detective story involving ancient DNA, hidden family secrets and a huge |
| 1:05.1 | media storm that thrust her into the global spotlight. At a young age |
| 1:09.2 | Chury King fell in love with archaeology and set her sights on becoming the next Indiana Jones. |
| 1:15.0 | But after getting her hands dirty on digs, she ended up inside the clean room, becoming the |
| 1:19.7 | go-to geneticist to solve historical mysteries. Currently reader and genetics and archaeology and |
| 1:25.3 | professor of public engagement at the University of Leicester, |
| 1:28.0 | Dura King, welcome to the life scientific. Hello! Now your biggest case has no doubt being Richard the third. Did you expect it to become such a huge story? |
| 1:38.0 | No, absolutely not. So when I was first contacted about it in 2011 by Richard Buckley, he basically sent an email saying, |
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