7/5/2023 0 Comments When was human genome mappedScorrano explains that it’s impossible to be sure, given the high level of similarity among members of the Mycobacterium genus. They did find sequences that could be associated with this bacterium. Motivated by this diagnosis, the team searched for ancient DNA from Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacteria causing the disease. The authors of the new study also report that the man could have been affected by spinal tuberculosis, based on the destruction of a fragment from one of his lumbar vertebrae, together with other bone morphological markers. It is exciting to have genomes from Italian regions outside Rome, she says, adding that looking at sites like Pompeii is “really interesting” because they can provide insights into more rural areas. The Italian Peninsula was “incredibly heterogeneous” when Vesuvius erupted-people were “coming from all over the empire” into Rome or into port cities like Pompeii, says University of Chicago archaeologist Hannah Moots, who did not participate in the study but has previously characterized the genomic pool of ancient Rome. In fact, the markers of the man’s maternal and paternal lineages were absent among those previously published sequences, which suggests the region had high genetic diversity during that time. But at the same time, he notes that Rome was packed with people from diverse genetic backgrounds back then. The results suggested the Pompeian man was genetically similar to modern Mediterranean populations and, when compared to other published genomes from ancient Rome, that he was closely related “to Imperial Roman Age individuals,” Scorrano says, adding that that’s what the team expected to find. Still, according to Scorrano, the sequence was good enough to analyze certain aspects of the DNA. The man’s genome assembly had just 0.42x coverage, indicating that the reads had little overlap, and there were gaps. Notizie degli Scavi di Antichità, 1934, p. Those individuals have long been covered by the ashes of the eruption, which means “the bones have been exposed to high temperatures” that can damage them and any DNA preserved within. But recovering enough material to assemble a complete genome from the destroyed city is challenging, he adds. Short fragments of ancient human and animal DNA from the site have been reported previously, explains coauthor Gabriele Scorrano, a palaeogeneticist currently at the University of Copenhagen who carried out this work while at the Tor Vergata University of Rome. Based on the condition of the DNA, though, only the man’s genome could be sequenced, albeit at low quality. They announce today (May 26) in Scientific Reports the bioarchaeological and genomic analyses of two adults (a man and a woman) found at a Pompeii building named Casa del Fabbro, translated as House of the Blacksmith. Now, thanks to improved genomic technologies and interdisciplinary collaboration, a diverse group of researchers has finally achieved the feat. Scientists have been attempting to do so for years in the hopes of learning more about the population who once lived there, for example, where they came from, or what diseases they suffered from. But one goal has remained out of reach: sequencing the whole genome of any Pompeian. The sudden tragedy transformed it into a glimpse of life during the Roman Imperial Age, frozen in time, which has yielded novel insights into the architecture, customs, and language of the era. The city of Pompeii-buried by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE-has been intensively studied for decades. ABOVE: Illustration of Mount Vesuvius looming over the ruins of Pompeii © ISTOCK.COM, BLAMB
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