Before Columbus: A 4,000-Year-Old Skeleton Reveals a Rare Leprosy Strain in the Americas

Scientists have decoded the genetic blueprints of a uncommon leprosy bacterium preserved in 4,000-year-old Chilean skeletons, opening a shocking new chapter within the story of Hansen’s illness. Researchers reconstructed two full genomes of Mycobacterium lepromatosis, an unusual cousin of the principle leprosy germ. The invention pushes the timeline of Hansen’s illness within the Americas again […]



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