Ancient DNA Reveals Twisted Roots of Syphilis Go Back 5,500 Years
ScienceAlert • • health
Key Points:
- A 5,500-year-old skeleton in Colombia revealed DNA of an ancient Treponema pallidum strain (TE1-3), predating known syphilis outbreaks by about 3,000 years and suggesting an origin in the Americas rather than Europe.
- The TE1-3 strain represents an early-diverging lineage of T. pallidum, preceding subspecies responsible for syphilis and related diseases, and possessed virulence genes indicating it was harmful to humans.
- Researchers estimate that TE1-3 diverged from other T. pallidum lineages around 13,700 years ago, indicating treponemal diseases existed among hunter-gatherer communities before agricultural societies emerged.
- The findings challenge
