Nelson’s HMS Victory gives scientists vital DNA for battle against deathwatch beetle

DNA sequenced from a deathwatch beetle found by museum staff on board HMS Victory in Portsmouth is a breakthrough discovery. Photograph: David Hodges/Alamy

The oak timbers of HMS Victory have played an unexpected role in ensuring a scientific research triumph for Great Britain. A deathwatch beetle – taken from an infected beam on Nelson’s great warship – has been used to create the first fully sequenced genome of the species.

The project, carried out by scientists at the Sanger Institute and Oxford University and by National Museum of the Royal Navy conservationists, has made a key breakthrough, say researchers.