Greetings--There are few things more interesting than ancient human DNA and diseases (if you ask me). So the opportunity to write about both of them in one article was the highlight of my week.
Scientists who have been gathering DNA from Bronze Age skeletons wondered if they might have unknowingly scooped up some DNA from interesting pathogens. Turns out, they did. From 5,000-year-old skeletons, they extracted the DNA of Yersinia pestis, the cause of the plague. The discovery pushes back the plague 3,000 years, and allows us to see the stepwise evolution of the pathogen into its full-blown, flea-carried form.
I have the whole story in my column this week for the New York Times.
(The creepy picture above is the outfit worn by doctors in the seventeenth century to protect themselves from the plague. Via Wikipedia.)
--Here's my current list of upcoming talks. I'll be adding new ones soon:
November 13, Providence, RI, at the National Association of Biology Teachers: I'll be giving a talk in conjunction with receiving their Distinguished Service Award.
November 19, the New York City Genome Center: A panel discussion on "Jewish genomics" Details here.
January 28, the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark, NJ: Details to come.
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Best wishes, Carl
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