Ancient plague plaque reveals so much!

Zuckerman, M. K., & Hofman, C. A. (2024). Lessons from ancient pathogens. Science, 385(6708), 490–492. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adk0584

It is incredible what ancient DNA can tell us about ancient diseases!

First Paragraph: The skeletons of deceased humans as well as their substrates, such as preserved dental plaque (dental calculus), and biomolecules, such as DNA, represent an archive of many otherwise invisible aspects of the past. In particular, molecular studies of skeletal individuals capture interactions between human hosts, environments, animals, plants, and pathogens (HEAPP) (1, 2). When the tools of paleogenomics, such as ancient DNA (aDNA) analyses, are combined with broad collaborations and perspectives from various groups and disciplines and are funneled into translational science, such research can expand beyond enriching knowledge of the past and have relevance to contemporary societies. For example, when staying within ethical parameters, such research can directly inform the understanding of present-day and potentially future disease risks, including pandemic preparedness and public health responses, and even generate new therapies (3–5). Read more at https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adk0584