Ancient Colombian skeleton yields oldest Treponema genome, reshaping syphilis origins
TL;DR Summary
Researchers recovered TE1-3, the oldest Treponema pallidum genome, from a 5,500-year-old skeleton in Sabana de Bogotá, Colombia, pushing the bacterium’s presence in the Americas back by thousands of years and fueling the argument that syphilis may have originated in the Americas, though the exact origin and transmission routes remain unsettled.
- 5,500-year-old human skeleton discovered in Colombia holds the oldest evidence yet that syphilis came from the Americas Live Science
- 5,500-year-old DNA shows syphilis was rooted in the Americas, before Columbus The Washington Post
- Ancient bacterium discovery rewrites the origins of syphilis New Scientist
- 5,500-year-old skeleton yields oldest evidence yet of syphilis-related bacteria Phys.org
- Ancient DNA Reveals Twisted Roots of Syphilis Go Back 5,500 Years ScienceAlert
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