The spatiotemporal distribution of human pathogens in ancient Eurasia
Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 2025
Infectious diseases have had devastating effects on human populations throughout history, but important questions about their origins and past dynamics remain1. To create an archaeogenetic-based spatiotemporal map of human pathogens, we screened shotgun-sequencing data from 1,313 ancient humans covering 37,000 years of Eurasian history. We demonstrate the widespread presence of ancient bacterial, viral and parasite DNA, identifying 5,486 individual hits against 492 species from 136 genera. Among those hits, 3,384 involve known human pathogens2, many of which had not previously been identified in ancient human remains. Grouping the ancient microbial species according to their likely reservoir and type of transmission, we find that most groups are identified throughout the entire sampling period. Zoonotic pathogens are only detected from around 6,500 years ago, peaking roughly 5,000 years ago, coinciding with the widespread domestication of livestock3. Our findings provide direct evidence that this lifestyle change resulted in an increased infectious disease burden. They also indicate that the spread of these pathogens increased substantially during subsequent millennia, coinciding with the pastoralist migrations from the Eurasian Steppe4,5.
Författare
Martin Sikora
Köpenhamns universitet
Elisabetta Canteri
Köpenhamns universitet
Antonio Fernandez-Guerra
Köpenhamns universitet
Nikolay Oskolkov
Lunds universitet
Rasmus Ågren
Chalmers, Life sciences, Systembiologi
Lena Hansson
Definitive Healthcare
Evan K. Irving-Pease
Köpenhamns universitet
Barbara Mühlemann
Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Sofie Holtsmark Nielsen
Statens Serum Institut
Gabriele Scorrano
Universita degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata
Köpenhamns universitet
Morten E. Allentoft
Köpenhamns universitet
Curtin University
Frederik Valeur Seersholm
Köpenhamns universitet
Hannes Schroeder
Köpenhamns universitet
Charleen Gaunitz
Köpenhamns universitet
Jesper Stenderup
Köpenhamns universitet
Lasse Vinner
Köpenhamns universitet
Terry C. Jones
Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin
University of Cambridge
Björn Nystedt
Uppsala universitet
Karl Göran Sjögren
Göteborgs universitet
Julian Parkhill
Department of Veterinary Medicine
Lars Fugger
University of Oxford
Fernando Racimo
Köpenhamns universitet
Kristian Kristiansen
Köpenhamns universitet
Göteborgs universitet
Astrid K.N. Iversen
University of Oxford
Köpenhamns universitet
Eske Willerslev
Universität Bremen
Köpenhamns universitet
University of Cambridge
Nature
0028-0836 (ISSN) 1476-4687 (eISSN)
Vol. 643 8073 1011-1019Ämneskategorier (SSIF 2025)
Molekylärbiologi
Mikrobiologi
DOI
10.1038/s41586-025-09192-8
PubMed
40634616