|Question 8Verbal

Source Texts

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Ke Bi and colleagues relied on historical DNA (hDNA)—genomic data incidentally preserved in specimens housed in natural history collections—to investigate the evolutionary trajectory of the alpine chipmunk (Tamias alpinus). Although this approach offers unique benefits, such as the ability to contrast historical genomic data with present-day data, it remains relatively underutilized because archival specimens are sometimes stored in ways that compromise DNA quality, a situation not easily remediable under current methodological paradigms and with extant DNA extraction and analysis technologies.
What does the text most strongly suggest about specimens from natural history collections?
While they may contain valuable genomic data, not all of them can yield usable data.
A
They are primarily used as sources of genomic data by scientists studying organisms that have undergone major evolutionary change.
B
Because of their often-deteriorated condition, they tend to yield genomic data that are time-consuming to extract and interpret.
C
While they were used in a study that made an important scientific discovery, they are generally of marginal value as sources of genomic data.
D