Biocodicology - A Deeper Dive

[Mark Knowles]

While technology advances, the fundamental problem remains the same. Highly fragmented DNA of multiple people in one sample is a nightmare. In case of Leonardo, in theory it should be possible to build a consensus DNA profile by sampling all his (attributed) works. With the VM we have no reference whatsoever. Whatever we find there could be whoever handled the manuscript - or an inexistent chimera created from the DNA fragments of different people.

As I have discussed before I think think the key is to locate a site or sites within the manuscript where the author's DNA is likely to be found, but where other DNA is unlikely to be found. I think that as this technology develops the scope for extracting, sequencing and identifying the DNA of the author(s) of the Voynich will become greater. The Beinecke will only allow such sampling to be done once this becomes an established, safe and reliable technique, so it will be some time before this happens. However, when that day comes, identifying the author(s) of the manuscript will be a major advance towards our understanding of the manuscript.