Touching the (almost) untouchable: a minimally invasive workflow for microbiological and biomolecular analyses of cultural heritage objects.

ABSTRACT: Microbiological and biomolecular approaches to cultural heritage research have expanded the established research horizon from the prevalent focus on the cultural objects' conservation and human health protection to the relatively recent applications to provenance inquiry and assessment of environmental impacts in a global context of a changing climate. Standard microbiology and molecular biology methods developed for other materials, specimens, and contexts could, in principle, be applied to cultural heritage research. However, given certain characteristics common to several heritage objects-such as uniqueness, fragility, high value, and restricted access, tailored approaches are required. In addition, samples of heritage objects may yield low microbial biomass, rendering them highly susce

SUBMITTER: Flocco CG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10435870 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature