This is a pilot project to study the DNA from the skeletal remains of lower-class Romans dating to the Imperial period. Some DNA analysis has been done in ancient Italy, but it hasn't yet been explored as a method for understanding the geographic origins of immigrants to Rome. In particular, the combination of DNA with results I obtained from isotope analyses (Sr/O/C/N/Pb) in my dissertation research will be a powerful way of investigating the life histories of groups under-represented in history, particularly slaves, immigrants, women, and children.She is asking for contributions to the Roman DNA Project. There is also a video associated with the Project:
This is a good idea, and I encourage readers to contribute, if, after reading the project materials, they want to pitch in.
Just one quick comment: testing lower-class Imperial Romans is, indeed, admirable, but I am pretty sure there are ancient remains from Latium that date to before the period when cremation burial became the norm, with inhumation never entirely dying out even among the patrician gentes.
In studying the origin of foreigners in Rome, it makes sense to first have a picture of what the Romans of old were like. They may not have been "under-represented" in history, but they are certainly under-represented when it comes to ancient DNA research.