A/Prof Mike Bunce
Bsc (hons) Lincoln University, PhD ANU.

I am a researcher in the field of ancient DNA analysis which entails isolating and characterising degraded and low copy number DNA from a variety of biological substrates. These include fossil bone, mummified remains, scats, ice cores and ancient sediments. In the 9 years since obtaining his PhD at the ANU,  I gained expertise as a post-doctoral researcher at Oxford and McMaster Universities. Currently I am an ARC Future Fellow at Murdoch University where I head up the ancient DNA and AWFS labs (links below).

More details can be found at the following links:

http://scholar.google.com.au/citations?user=YPoEsJcAAAAJ

http://wwwstaff.murdoch.edu.au/~mbunce/

http://www.wildlifeforensics.com.au

2006-Present: ARC Future Fellow, Senior Lecturer, School of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Murdoch University, WA.

2004-2005: Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Ancient DNA laboratory, McMaster University, Canada.

2002-2004: Postdoctoral Researcher, Ancient Biomolecules Centre, Oxford University, UK.

1998-2002: Australian National University, PhD in Medical Science, John Curtin School of Medical Research. Australia.

1994-1997: First class honours Degree in Biochemistry and Molecular biology. Lincoln University, New Zealand.

I have taught extensively in the areas of; Molecular Biology, Bioinformatics and Forensic DNA analysis.

The ability to isolate and extract DNA from “old” substrates is a field collectively know as “ancient DNA” (aDNA). This scientific discipline has provided significant insights into evolutionary history, extinction processes and past biodiversity of many species. aDNA techniques are now employed in a variety of fields including forensics, conservation biology, disease evolution, palaeontology and archaeology.

A description of the projects our lab works on can be found in the publications section of this page or at:

http://wwwstaff.murdoch.edu.au/~mbunce/

and

http://www.wildlifeforensics.com.au

Video link to a report on a recent paper in PLoS genetics: TCM research explained

Selected grants and Prizes:

2011: Co-CI, ARC discovery grant ($350,000) to study extinction and biodiversity on Kangaroo Island in South Australia.

2011: CI, ARC Discovery grant ($152,000) to study ancient DNA preserved in sediments Archaeological sites in the South West of Western Australia.

2010: Awarded the Murdoch University VC’s prize for outstanding early career researcher.

2009: ARC Future Fellowship, ~$800,000 to study past biodiversity in WA,

2009: Marsden Fund: ~$777,000 to study the archaeology of moa hunter sites in NZ,

2006: CI, ARC Discovery grant ($192,000) to Study Long term DNA survival in Australia.

2006: Marsden Fund (New Zealand) $825,000 (NZD) to study the population structure of the extinct moa in North Canterbury. (Collaboration with Prof Richard Holdaway – University of Canterbury)

Current PhD candidates working in the lab:

Charlotte Oskam (Eggshell aDNA and stable isotopes; Archaeology)

Daithi Murray (Biodiversity past and present using next gen DNA sequencing)

Megan Coghlan (development of a molecular toolkit for wildlife forensics)

Silvana Tridico (hairs in archaeological, paleontological and forensic contexts)

Dalal Haouchar (Investigating past biodiversity using ancient DNA)

Journals

• Coghlan, M., White, N., Parkinson, L., Haile, J., Spencer, P., Bunce, M., (2012), Egg forensics: An appraisal of DNA sequencing to assist in species identification of illegally smuggled eggs, Forensic Science International: Genetics, 6, 2, pages 268 - 273.
• Bunce, M., Oskam, C., Allentoft, M., (2012), Quantitative real-time PCR in aDNA research, Methods in Molecular Biology, 840, , pages 121 - 132.
• Oskam, C., Bunce, M., (2012), DNA extraction from fossil eggshell, Methods in Molecular Biology, 840, , pages 65 - 70.
• Coghlan, M., Haile, J., Houston, J., Murray, D., White, N., Moolhuijzen, P., Bellgard, M., Bunce, M., (2012), Deep sequencing of plant and animal DNA contained within traditional Chinese medicines reveals legality issues and health safety concerns, PLoS Genetics (Print), 8, 4, pages 1 - 11.
• Oskam, C., Allentoft, M., Walter, R., Scofield, P., Haile, J., Holdaway, R., Bunce, M., Jacomb, C., (2012), Ancient DNA analyses of early archaeological sites in New Zealand reveal extreme exploitation of moa (Aves: Dinornithiformes) at all life stages, Quaternary Science Reviews, 52, , pages 41 - 48.
• Rong, J., Bunce, M., Wayne, A., Pancini, C., Ryan, U., Irwin, P., (2012), A high prevalence of Theileria penicillata in woylies (Bettongia penicillata), Experimental Parasitology, 131, 2, pages 157 - 161.
• Allentoft, M., Collins, M., Harker, D., Haile, J., Oskam, C., Hale, M., Campos, P., Samaniego, J., Gilbert, T., Willerslev, E., Zhang, G., Scofield, R., Holdaway, R., Bunce, M., (2012), The half-life of DNA in bone: measuring decay kinetics in 158 dated fossils, Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences, 279, 1748, pages 4724 - 4733.
• Murray, D., Pearson, S., Fullagar, R., Chase, B., Houston, J., Atchison, J., White, N., Bellgard, M., Clarke, E., Macphail, M., Gilbert, T., Haile, J., Bunce, M., (2012), High-throughput sequencing of ancient plant and mammal DNA preserved in herbivore middens, Quaternary Science Reviews, 58, , pages 135 - 145.
• Haouchar, D., Haile, J., Spencer, P., Bunce, M., (2012), The identity of the Depuch Island rock-wallaby revealed through ancient DNA, Australian Mammalogy, 35, 1, pages 101 - 106.
• Holdaway, R., Hawke, D., Bunce, M., Allentoft, M., (2011), Identification of an optimal sampling position for stable isotopic analysis of bone collagen of extinct moa (Aves: Emeidae), Notornis, 58, 1, pages 1 - 7.
• Murray, D., Bunce, M., Cannell, B., Oliver, R., Houston, J., White, N., Barrero, R., Bellgard, M., Haile, J., (2011), DNA-based faecal dietary analysis: A comparison of qPCR and high throughput sequencing approaches, PLoS One, 6, 10, pages 1 - 10.
• White, N., Dawson, R., Coghlan, M., Tridico, S., Mawson, P., Haile, J., Bunce, M., (2011), Application of STR markers in wildlife forensic casework involving Australian black-cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus spp.), Forensic Science International: Genetics, 6, 5, pages 664 - 670.
• Allentoft, M., Oskam, C., Houston, J., Hale, M., Gilbert, M., Rasmussen, M., Spencer, P., Jacomb, C., Willerslev, E., Holdaway, R., Bunce, M., (2011), Profiling the dead: Generating microsatellite data from fossil bones of extinct megafauna-protocols, problems, and prospects, PLoS One, 6, 1, pages -.
• Rasmussen, M., Guo, X., Wang, Y., Lohmueller, K., Rasmussen, S., Albrechtsen, A., Skotte, L., Lindgreen, S., Metspalu, M., Jombart, T., Tridico, S., Bunce, M., (2011), An aboriginal Australian genome reveals separate human dispersals into Asia, Science, 334, 6052, pages 94 - 98.
• Allentoft, M., Schofield, R., Oskam, C., Hale, M., Holdaway, R., Bunce, M., (2011), A molecular characterization of a newly discovered megafaunal fossil site in North Canterbury, South Island, New Zealand, Royal Society of New Zealand. Journal, , , pages -.
• Oskam, C., Jacomb, C., Allentoft, M., Walter, R., Scofield, R., Haile, J., Holdaway, R., Bunce, M., (2011), Molecular and morphological analyses of avian eggshell excavated from a late thirteenth century earth oven, Journal of Archaeological Science, 38, 10, pages 2589 - 2595.
• White, N., Phillips, M., Gilbert, M., Alfaro-Nunez, A., Willerslev, E., Mawson, P., Spencer, P., Bunce, M., (2011), The evolutionary history of cockatoos (Aves: Psittaciformes: Cacatuidae), Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 59, 3, pages 615 - 622.
• Oskam, C., Haile, J., McLay, E., Rigby, P., Allentoft, M., Olsen, M., Bengtsson, C., Miller, G., Schwenninger, J., Jacomb, C., Walter, R., Baynes, A., Dortch, J., Parker-Pearson, M., Gilbert, M., Holdaway, R., Willerslev, E., Bunce, M., (2010), Fossil avian eggshell preserves ancient DNA, Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences, 277, 1690, pages 1991 - 2000.
• Allentoft, M., Bunce, M., Schofield, R., Hale, M., Holdaway, R., (2010), Highly skewed sex ratios and biased fossil deposition of moa: ancient DNA provides new insight on New Zealand's extinct megafauna, Quaternary Science Reviews, 29, 5-6, pages 753 - 762.
• Steeves, T., Holdaway, R., Hale, M., McLay, E., McAllan, I., Christian, M., Hauber, M., Bunce, M., (2010), Merging ancient and modern DNA: extinct seabird taxon rediscovered in the North Tasman Sea, Biology Letters, 6, 1, pages 94 - 97.
• Holdaway, R., Thorneycroft, J., McClelland, P., Bunce, M., (2010), Former presence of a parakeet (Cyanoramphus sp.) on Campbell Island, New Zealand subantarctic, with notes on the island's fossil sites and fossil record, Notornis, 57, , pages 8 - 18.
• Rasmussen, M., Li, Y., Lindgreen, S., Pederson, J., Albrechtsen, A., Moltke, I., Metspalu, M., Metspalu, E., Kivisild, T., Gupta, R., Bertalan, M., Nielsen, K., Gilbert, T., Wang, Y., Raghavan, M., Campos, P., Munkholm Kamp, H., Wilson, A., Gledhill, A., Tridico, S., Bunce, M., Lorenzen, E., Binladen, J., Guo, X., Zhao, J., Zhang, X., Zhang, H., Li, Z., Chen, M., Orlando, L., Kristiansen, K., Bak, M., Tommerup, N., Bendixen, C., Pierre, T., Bronnow, B., Meldgaard, M., Andresen, C., Fedorova, S., Osipova, L., Higham, T., Ramsey, C., Hansen, T., Nielsen, F., Crawford, M., Brunak, S., Sicheritz-Ponten, T., Villems, R., Nielsen, R., Krogh, A., Wang, J., Willerslev, E., (2010), Ancient human genome sequence of an extinct Palaeo-Eskimo, Nature: international weekly journal of science, 463, Feb 2010, pages On line -.
• Hebsgaard, M., Gilbert, T., Arneborg, J., Heyn, P., Allentoft, M., Bunce, M., Munch, K., Schweger, C., Willerslev, E., (2009), The Farm Beneath the Sand - an archaeological case study on ancient 'dirt' DNA, Antiquity, 83, 320, pages 430 - 444.
• Bunce, M., Worthy, T., Phillips, M., Holdaway, R., Willerslev, E., Haile, J., Shapiro, B., Scofield, R., Drummond, A., Kamp, P., Cooper, A., (2009), The evolutionary history of the extinct ratite moa and New Zealand Neogene paleogeography, National Academy of Sciences. Proceedings, Early Edition November 2009, , pages 1 - 6.
• Allentoft, M., Holdaway, R., Hale, M., McLay, E., Oskam, C., Gilbert, T., Spencer, P., Willerslev, E., Bunce, M., (2009), Identification of microsatellites from an extinct moa species using high-throughput (454) sequence data, BioTechniques: the journal of laboratory technology for bioresearch, 46, 3, pages 195 - 200.
• Salinas, M., Bunce, M., Cancilla, D., Alpers, D., Spencer, P., (2009), Divergent lineages in the heath mouse (Pseudomys shortridgei) are indicative of major contraction to geographically isolated refugia on the eastern and western sides of Australia during the early Pleistocene, Australian Journal of Zoology, 57, , pages 41 - 47.
• Worobey, M., Gemmel, M., Teuwen, D., Haselkorn, T., Kunstman, K., Bunce, M., Muyembe, J., Kabongo, J., Kalengayi, R., Van Marck, E., Gilbert, T., Wolinsky, S., (2008), Direct evidence of extensive diversity of HIV-1 in Kinshasa by 1960, Nature: international weekly journal of science, 455, 2 October 2008, pages 661 - 664.
• Vuissoz, A., Worobey, M., Odegaard, N., Bunce, M., Machado, C., Lynnerup, N., Peacock, E., Gilbert, M., (2007), The survival of PCR-ampifiable DNA in cow leather, Journal of Archaeological Science, 34, , pages 823 - 829.
• Willerslev, E., Cappellini, E., Boomsma, W., Neilsen, R., Hebsgaard, M., Brand, T., Hofreiter, M., Bunce, M., Poinar, H., Dahl-Jensen, D., Johnsen, S., Steffensen, J., Bennike, O., Schwenninger, J., Nathan, R., Armitage, S., de Hoog, C., Alfimov, V., Christi, M., Beer, M., Muscheler, R., Barker, J., Sharp, M., Penkman, K., Haile, J., taberlet, P., Gilbert, T., Campani, E., Collins, M., Casiku, A., (2007), Ancient biomolecules from deep ice cores reveal a forested southern Greenland, Science, 317, , pages 111 - 114.
• Johnson, S., Hebsgaard, M., Christensen, T., Mastepanov, M., Nielsen, R., Munch, K., Brand, T., Gilbert, T., Zuber, M., Bunce, M., onn, R., Gillichinsky, D., Froese, D., Willerslev, E., (2007), Ancient bacteria show evidence of DNA repair, National Academy of Sciences. Proceedings, 104, 36, pages 14401 - 14405.
• Gilbert, M., Haselkorn, T., Bunce, M., Sanchez, J., Lucas, S., Jewell, L., Van Marck, E., Worobey, M., (2007), The isolation of nucleic acids from fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues-which methods are useful when?, PLoS One, 2, 6, pages 1 - 12.
• Haile, J., Holdaway, R., Oliver, K., Bunce, M., Gilbert, M., Nielsen, R., Munch, K., Ho, S., Shapiro, B., Willerslev, E., (2007), Ancient DNA chronology within sediment deposits: Are paleobiological reconstructions possible and is DNA leaching a factor?, Molecular Biology and Evolution, 24, 4, pages 982 - 989.
• Spencer, P., Cardoso, R., How, R., Williams, J., Bunce, M., Schmitt, L., (2007), Cross-species amplification at microsatellite loci in Australian quolls including the description of five new markers from the Chuditch (Dasyurus geoffroii) and cross-species amplification in other Dasyurids, Molecular Ecology Resources, 6, 7, pages 1100 - 1103.
• Lister, A., Edwards, C., Nock, D., Bunce, M., van, P., Bradley, D., Thomas, M., Barnes, I., (2005), The phylogenetic position of the 'giant deer' Megaloceros giganteus, Nature: international weekly journal of science, 438, , pages 850 - 853.
• Bunce, M., Szulkin, M., Lerner, H., Barnes, I., Shapiro, B., Cooper, A., (2005), Ancient DNA provides new insights into the evolutionary history of New Zealands's extinct Giant Eagle, PLoS Biology (Print), 34, , pages 44 - 46.
• Willerslev, E., Hansen, A., Binladen, J., Brand, T., Gilbert, M., Shapiro, B., Bunce, M., Wiuf, C., Gilichinsky, A., Cooper, A., (2003), Diverse Plant and Animal Genetic Records from Holocene and Pleistocene Sediments, Science, 300, , pages 791 - 795.
• Bunce, M., Worthy, T., Ford, T., Hoppitt, W., Drummond, A., Cooper, A., (2003), Extreme reversed sexual size dimorphism in the extinct New Zealand moa Dinornis, Nature: international weekly journal of science, 425, , pages 172 - 175.
• Henderson, A., Bunce, M., Reeves, R., Tremethick, D., (2000), High-Mobility-Group Protein I can modulate binding of transcription factors to the U5 region of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Proviral Promoter, Journal of Virology, 74, , pages 10523 - 1534.

Conference

• Graham, B., Spencer, P., Bunce, M., Trengove, R., (2006), Identification of bear bile products using GC-MS and LC-MS, In: INTERACT 2006.
• Worthy, T., Bunce, M., Cooper, A., Scofield, P., (2005), Dinornis - An insular oddity, a taxonomic conundrum reviewed, In: International Symposium "Insular Vertebrate Evolution: the Palaeontological Approach" (2005).