Amazing stuff!
"Some 5000 years ago, the corpse of a man known as Ötzi, “the Iceman,” froze in the Alps along what’s now the Austrian-Italian border. The resulting mummy, known for his preserved clothing, weaponry, and tattooed skin, most likely succumbed to an arrowhead lodged in his shoulder. But before Ötzi’s death, he also endured broken bones, intestinal parasites, and soot-blackened lungs. Now, scientists may add another ailment to that list: the cancerous human papillomavirus, HPV16.
In a paper ..., researchers report that Ötzi and a 45,000-year-old Homo sapiens fossil from western Siberia both contain stretches of DNA from the cancer-causing virus. The results, which have yet to undergo peer review, could help pin down when and how modern humans first encountered the virus. ..."
From the abstract:
"Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) are ancient viruses with diverse lineages infecting epithelial tissues in primates and humans. Although contemporary distribution and clinical importance are well understood, there is limited knowledge about their occurrence among prehistoric human populations.
We investigated the presence of HPV in ancient anatomically modern humans (AMHs) by analyzing genome sequencing data from two exceptionally preserved individuals:
Ust’-Ishim (∼45,000 years BP) and
Ötzi the Iceman (∼5,300 years BP).
Using a combination of reference-guided mapping and ancient DNA authentication criteria, we searched for HPV sequences in these ancient genomes. We detected high-confidence papillomavirus fragments in both individuals.
Further phylogenetic and comparative analyses revealed that the reconstructed sequences belong to HPV16, the most oncogenic HPV lineage.
Our study presents the earliest molecular evidence of HPV16 in anatomically modern humans (AMHs), pushing back its evolutionary history and challenging the idea that HPV16A entered Homo sapiens through Neanderthal interbreeding.
Ust’-Ishim (∼45,000 years BP) and
Ötzi the Iceman (∼5,300 years BP).
Using a combination of reference-guided mapping and ancient DNA authentication criteria, we searched for HPV sequences in these ancient genomes. We detected high-confidence papillomavirus fragments in both individuals.
Further phylogenetic and comparative analyses revealed that the reconstructed sequences belong to HPV16, the most oncogenic HPV lineage.
Our study presents the earliest molecular evidence of HPV16 in anatomically modern humans (AMHs), pushing back its evolutionary history and challenging the idea that HPV16A entered Homo sapiens through Neanderthal interbreeding.
Our results suggest that HPV16 was already present in modern humans during the Upper Paleolithic, indicating a long-standing host–virus association independent of Neanderthal transmission."
Figure 1.
Mapping coverage of HPV16 using archaic hominin-derived reads. Reference mapping was done using BBMap.
In (a) is the mapping of 170,071 Ötzi reads (mean coverage 3923.4) to the HPV16A1 reference (NC_001526.4).
In (b) is the mapping of 53,770 Ust’-Ishim reads (mean coverage 2830.3) to the HPV16A4 reference (HQ644234). Orange arrows mark the protein-coding genes. Mapping was carried out simultaneously against multiple HPV16 reference sequences, as described in Materials and Methods, but only the corresponding reference is shown in each panel for clarity.
In (a) is the mapping of 170,071 Ötzi reads (mean coverage 3923.4) to the HPV16A1 reference (NC_001526.4).
In (b) is the mapping of 53,770 Ust’-Ishim reads (mean coverage 2830.3) to the HPV16A4 reference (HQ644234). Orange arrows mark the protein-coding genes. Mapping was carried out simultaneously against multiple HPV16 reference sequences, as described in Materials and Methods, but only the corresponding reference is shown in each panel for clarity.
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