Identify hepatitis B 'chronology'

The researchers said a mummy with a well-preserved organ allowed them to identify a virus that is the most common hepatitis in East Asia.

>>>Announcing important findings about liver cancer

The mummy was studied

According to UPI news agency, a group of Korean and Israeli scientists said a genetic analysis done on a liver biopsy of a 16th-century baby revealed that the hepatitis B virus belongs to a series of genotypes. C2 is common in the region.

The finding could provide clues about the evolution of this chronic virus and its possible spread from Africa to East Asia, then into Korea, as well as other parts of Asia and Australia, where it is the main cause of cirrhosis and liver cancer, according to a statement from the University of Jerusalem.

The researchers said that the viral DNA sequences collected from the liver biopsy sample allowed them to establish the entire sequence of the ancient hepatitis B gene.

It is known that more than 400 million people carry the hepatitis B virus worldwide, mainly in Africa, China and South Korea, according to the World Health Organization.