Month after Egypt boldly announced that archaeologists had identified a mummy of Queen's most powerful of its time, scientists in a museum-3500 years corpse to try to save the claim broadcast on television.
Progress has been slow. So far, the results indicate the linen-wrapped mummy is very likely, but not conclusive, the woman pharaoh Queen Hatshepsut, who ruled for 20 years in the 15th century BC
Launching his own ancient DNA laboratory is a big step forward for Egypt, which for decades has seen most foreigners to take credit for the great discoveries here.
It's time Egyptian scientists had assumed, "said Zahi Hawass, Egypt's antiquities chief who led the search to find Hatshepsut and build the lab. "Egyptology, for the last 200 years, it was directed by foreigners."
Hatshepsut But the discovery also highlights the struggle to preserve the recent spectacular discoveries in Egypt, including the discovery of ancient tombs and mummies, investigating how King Tut died, and even the discovery of the oasis of Siwa, possibly, the world's oldest human footprint.
So far, science shows the Discovery Channel's"Secrets of Egypt's Lost Queen" has not been published in a reputable peer-reviewed scientific journal _ the gold standard of scientific research worldwide.
And some scientists, even those working on the project, have raised concerns.
"I think people at the Discovery Channel went much too much like CSI, "says biological anthropologist Angelique Corthals, referring to the television "Crime Scene Investigation "series.
"They think you can collect evidence at 2 pm and 6 pm, you get results," said Corthals, a scholar at England's University of Manchester, which comes in Egypt helps establish the DNA lab.
In June, Egypt announced that Hatshepsut's mummy was found, and about a month later, the Discovery Channel aired a documentary presenting scientific breakthroughs _ including CT scans and analyses of DNA. The mummy is now exhibited in a display case in the Egyptian Museum's royal mummy room.
Hawass, other Egyptian officials and Discovery Channel all comply with their findings, although DNA testing is incomplete.
"Until now, there is an agreement and any discrepancies. The results are quite encouraging, "said Yehia Zakaria Gad, a molecular geneticist who heads the Laboratory of DNA-old at the Egyptian Museum.
Most of the evidence that led to Hawass said the mummy to be Hatshepsut comes not from DNA, but CT scans. These scans have shown that the tooth relic found in a box showing the Pharaoh's insignia matched a gap in the mummy's jaw.
Tomodensitogrammes also showed facial similarities between the mummy and already identified mummies of Hatshepsut's royal family, as well as evidence of a skin condition that the queen may have shared with some of them.
"The reason why we went to such a request has been strong because of the CT scan was inconclusive and that the missing tooth provided the missing clue. ... I think that the DNA tests indicate otherwise, "said Peter Lovering, the discovery senior executive programming.
Now, scientists at the Egyptian Museum lab are comparing Hatshepsut's DNA sequences previously identified the mummy of Hatshepsut's grandmother _ the first attempt in Egypt, with this scientific analysis to verify a mummy identity. DNA is the genetic code unique to a person and a key tool in solving crimes date back several decades, establishing paternity and finding cures for diseases.
Documentary discovery, scientists have shown that the extraction of DNA from mummies, said the DNA results were incomplete and not to say those results was revealed the mummy Hatshepsut . But
Corthals has raised concerns about the expectations placed on the new DNA laboratory.
She said that the team of Egyptian laboratory was under "a lot of pressure" to produce results. She said they had "very good preliminary results," but it will take another month to verify that these results were not a queue.
Egypt also lacks a second independent laboratory to examine the test. Before any DNA results can be published in a scientific journal, the Egyptian Museum laboratory must replicate its original _ which are not yet completed _ and then the samples must be sent to an independent laboratory to be replicated.
"The ancient world-DNA through a very rigorous criteria. ... One of the most important is the reproduction by an independent laboratory, "said Corthals. "If you get there, especially with something as famous as this mummy, no peer review journal will publish.
"And if you get it published in a newspaper of peer review, as a scientist, you haven't done anything," she said .
Hawass said he is trying to obtain a second DNA laboratory set up in Egypt. The first laboratory of $ 5 million, funded by the Discovery Channel, is the centerpiece of an ambitious plan to identify the mummies and reconsider the royal mummy collection.
The process is time-consuming, especially for a new lab with scientists who have little experience with DNA mummy. It takes three days just to extract DNA delicate, and scientists must spend at least three more days completed a test on one sample. Months are required to make a finding.
During a recent visit to the lab by a reporter from the Associated Press, Gad was not firm on how much time is needed to carry out the first tests on Hatshepsut, saying only that it was "almost."
Discovery Channel paid for the current lab in exchange for exclusive rights to film the search for the mummy Hatshepsut. Hawass said he other companies offering the same market: the rights to film an expedition highly coveted _ possibly finding King Tut's family _ in exchange for a second laboratory.
"That's how I use bring technology televisions here," he says during an interview in his office in Cairo. He added that he had snacks on offer, but not in detail.
Hawass has ambitious plans for DNA testing in Egypt, including an examination of all the royal mummies and the unidentified nearly two dozen preserved mummies in the Egyptian Museum. He believes that DNA tests show that some royal mummies are not exposed archaeologists who thought they were.
One example is the mummy of Thutmose I, Hatshepsut's father, found in the late 19th century, amid the ancient sites at Luxor. But further investigation discovered that the mummy was too young to be Thutmose I, who died in his 50s, said Hawass.
"I firmly believe that the Egyptian mummy project will be very important in revealing lots of secrets," he says.
But not everyone is convinced.
Mummy of an age, the process of mummification and the condition in which it was stored, all contribute to a high degree of contamination and the results which are not infallible, "said Salima Ikram, Professor of Egyptology at the American University in Cairo.
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