Nessie faces DNA tests, a titan of its own

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — The stories seem as tall as the lake is deep. For hundreds of years, visitors to Scotland’s Loch Ness have described seeing a monster that some believe lurks in the depths.

But now the legend of “Nessie” may have no place left to hide.

A New Zealand scientist is leading an international team to the lake next month, where they will take samples of the murky waterstinct. and conduct DNA tests to Another theory is that determine what species livethe monster is actually a there. sturgeon or giant catfish.

University of Otago profes-Many think the sightings sor Neil Gemmell says he’s noare hoaxes or can be exwantsplained believer in Nessie, but he by floating logs or to take people on an adventurestrong winds. and communicate some scien- Gemmell said that when ce along the way. creatures move about in

Besides, he says, his kidswater, they leave behind think it’s one of the coolesttiny fragments of DNA. It things he’s ever done. comes from their skin,

One of the more far-fetchedfeathers, scales and urine. theories is that Nessie is a He said his team will take long-necked plesiosaur that300 samples of water from somehow survived the perioddifferent points around the when dinosaurs became ex-lake and at different depths. They will filter the organic material and extract the DNA, he said, sequencing it by using technology originally created for the human genome project.

He said the DNA results will then be compared against a database of known species. He said they should have answers by the end of the year.

“I’m going into this thinking it’s unlikely there is a monster, but I want to test that hypothesis,” Gemmell said.

AP A photo shows a shadowy shape that some say is the Loch Ness monster. Others think the sightings are a hoax.