One of the samples of ancient herpes DNA came from a young adult male from the late 14th century, buried in the grounds of medieval Cambridge’s charitable hospital -- later to become St. John’s College -- who had suffered appalling dental abscesses.
Photo by Craig Cessford/Cambridge Archaeological Unit
July 28 (UPI) -- A Cambridge University-led team of scientists has uncovered and sequenced ancient genomes of the herpes simplex virus that causes cold sores, dating it to about 5,000 years ago.
Roughly 3.7 billion people globally have HSV-1, or oral herpes, with most infections classified as mild or asymptomatic.
The study, published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances, said the oral herpes infection found in the ancient DNA may have arisen in conjunction with the then-new practice of romantic and sexual kissing.
The University of Cambridge's Dr. Christiana Scheib co-wrote the report.
"Every primate species has a form of herpes, so we assume it has been with us since our own species left Africa," study co-author Christiana Scheib said in a press release.
"However, something happened around five thousand years ago that allowed one strain of herpes to overtake all others, possibly an increase in transmissions, which could have been linked to kissing," Scheib said.
The oldest HSV-1 DNA sample was from an adult male in Russia dated to the late Iron Age, around 1500 years ago.
"By comparing ancient DNA with herpes samples from the 20th century, we were able to analyze the differences and estimate a mutation rate, and consequently a timeline for virus evolution," said study co-lead author Lucy van Dorp, a researcher at Cambridge Genetics Institute.
July 28 (UPI) -- A Cambridge University-led team of scientists has uncovered and sequenced ancient genomes of the herpes simplex virus that causes cold sores, dating it to about 5,000 years ago.
Roughly 3.7 billion people globally have HSV-1, or oral herpes, with most infections classified as mild or asymptomatic.
The study, published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances, said the oral herpes infection found in the ancient DNA may have arisen in conjunction with the then-new practice of romantic and sexual kissing.
The University of Cambridge's Dr. Christiana Scheib co-wrote the report.
"Every primate species has a form of herpes, so we assume it has been with us since our own species left Africa," study co-author Christiana Scheib said in a press release.
"However, something happened around five thousand years ago that allowed one strain of herpes to overtake all others, possibly an increase in transmissions, which could have been linked to kissing," Scheib said.
The oldest HSV-1 DNA sample was from an adult male in Russia dated to the late Iron Age, around 1500 years ago.
"By comparing ancient DNA with herpes samples from the 20th century, we were able to analyze the differences and estimate a mutation rate, and consequently a timeline for virus evolution," said study co-lead author Lucy van Dorp, a researcher at Cambridge Genetics Institute.
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