都柏林三一学院的遗传学家Shigeki Nakagome及其研究团队通过分析智利古代木乃伊的DNA，发现了迄今最有力的遗传学证据，证明欧洲殖民化将天花病毒带入美洲[1]。研究者在北智利卡马罗内斯考古遗址的13个骨样本中，发现了两具成人遗骨上的天花感染证据，这两人生活在1492年至1631年间[1]。基因对比显示美洲的天花病毒株来自欧洲中世纪毒株的演化，强有力地证实了天花通过殖民化传入西半球的历史[1]。
两名患者年龄在18至35岁之间，天花很可能是其死亡原因[1]。天花在1980年被根除前，感染者死亡率约为三分之一[1]。这项研究论文发表于周四的《科学》期刊[1]。
Researchers have uncovered compelling genetic evidence that smallpox arrived in the Americas through European colonization by analyzing DNA from ancient Chilean mummies.[1] Scientists led by geneticists from Trinity College Dublin examined thirteen bone samples from the Camarones archaeological site in northern Chile and identified smallpox infection in two adult skeletal remains dated between 1492 and 1631.[1] The two individuals, aged between 18 and 35 years old, likely died from smallpox infection.[1] Genetic comparisons revealed that the smallpox virus strain found in the Americas evolved from a medieval European strain, providing strong confirmation that the disease spread to the Western Hemisphere through colonization.[1]
The findings represent the most substantial genetic evidence to date linking European colonization directly to the introduction of smallpox in the Americas.[1] The research was published this week in the journal Science.[1] Before smallpox was eradicated in 1980, the infection killed approximately one-third of those it infected.[1]