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A Mummy's DNA May Help Solve the Mystery of the Origins of Smallpox

MULTIZ321

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A Mummy's DNA May Help Solve the Mystery of the Origins of Smallpox
By Nell Greenfieldboyce/ Infectious Disease/ Goats & Soda: Stories of Life in a Changing World/ National Public Radio/ NPR/ npr.org

"The surprise find of smallpox DNA in a child mummy from the 17th century could help scientists start to trace the mysterious history of this notorious virus.

Smallpox currently only exists in secure freezers, after a global vaccination campaign eradicated the virus in the late 1970s. But much about this killer remains unknown, including its origins.

Now scientists have the oldest complete set of smallpox genes, after they went hunting for viral DNA in a sample of skin from a mummified young child, probably a boy, that was found in a crypt underneath a Lithuanian church...."

mummyhoriz_wide-2648e38fc5f704cd566d215a54fdbbc863a7e0db-s800-c85.png

Samples from this 17th century Lithuanian mummy were found to house samples of variola, the virus that causes smallpox.

Kiril Cachovski/Lithuanian Mummy Project


Richard
 
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