Danish researchers have succeeded for the first time in sequencing the genome of one of the victims of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, in Pompeii.
Posted at 1:49 p.m.
Gabriele Scorrano and his colleagues at the University of Copenhagen have examined two skeletons discovered a hundred years ago, that of a man aged 35 or 40 and that of a woman aged in her fifties .
They found DNA samples in their inner ear, but only the man’s DNA could be sequenced in full afterwards.
By comparing its genome with that of several hundred individuals, ancient and modern, from Eurasia, the researchers found that it was most closely related to the current inhabitants of central Italy, which is not surprising. amazing.
However, they also found in him genetic elements that associate him with the island of Sardinia. This is the first time that such a genetic heritage has been discovered in the genome of ancient Italians, and the study authors believe that it testifies to a high level of genetic diversity on the Italian peninsula at the time of Imperial Rome.
The researchers also found in him genetic traces of the bacteria responsible for tuberculosis, which indicates that the man had probably suffered from this respiratory disease before his death.
This could explain why he and the woman (who appears to have suffered from arthritis) apparently did not attempt to flee at the time of the disaster. They were instead found curled up against a piece of furniture.
Pompeii had around 11,000 inhabitants at the time of the eruption of Vesuvius in the year 79.
The findings of this study are published by the journal Scientific Reports.