The germ of TB germs in a 200-year mummy

With TB germs found in 200-year-old mummies, experts hope to find new ways to treat multiple infections at the same time.

Researchers at the University of Warwick (UK) have unearthed the sequence of TB germs in the lung tissue of a mummy for two centuries, thanks to a technique called metagenomics , the community genome or the environmental genome. . The tuberculosis strain that is accessed from mummies has provided a rare opportunity to allow experts to study dangerous pathogens at a time before antibiotics and before the disease spread in the period. Industrial Revolution.

DNA samples were taken from the lungs of a Hungarian woman named Terézia Hausmann , who died at the age of 28 in December 1797. The remains of this patient were found in a tomb in the town of Vac (Hungary) in 1994, along with 242 other bodies in a state of natural preservation, some of them still wearing shrouded clothes. with them. Initially, scientists performed molecular analyzes of a breast sample taken from the mummy, and deduced that she died of tuberculosis. At that time, they thought it was possible to find DNA samples of TB germs, most likely to be preserved particularly well in the ill-fated body. Until recently, the university's expert team used the method of community genome to describe the DNA sequence of this extremely dangerous pathogen.

Terézia Hausmann's mummy provided information that could help treat multidisciplinary tuberculosis - (Photo: Morbid Anatom y)

The findings could help scientists study the importance of multiple tuberculosis infections at the same time, especially during the deadly epidemic of outbreaks, thus paving the way for new ways to treat tuberculosis. infection. However, things did not go smoothly from the beginning. The team of experts, including scientists from the University of London, the Museum of Warsaw and Budapest, faced the challenge of swallowing hard to determine TB bacteria in a historical specimen. Luck was smiling when they applied the genome technique, avoiding complicated and unreliable processes using bacteria or amplifying DNA. The results showed that the patient was infected with 2 different strains of tubercle bacilli.

This is seen as an important finding in tracking the evolution of TB germs and could be the key to helping people fight the disease that claimed nearly 1.5 million lives in 2010, according to the Organization. World Health. Mark Pallen, professor at the University of Warwick, said: 'Most other attempts to recover genetic sequences from historical specimens or ancient specimens face the risk of contamination, due to relying on amplification techniques. "Great DNA in the laboratory," according to a New England Journal of Medicine report , community genome engineering has helped eliminate these risks, through a simple but informative approach to The same approach has been used by another group of scientists to excavate the gene that causes leprosy from a historical specimen a few weeks ago.

As mentioned, mummies in Hungarian tombs were found in 1994, placed in wooden coffins with painted skulls. These bodies are naturally maintained by low temperatures and humid environments often as well as atmospheric pressure inside the crypt, and gradually dry up, according to Fox News. Nearly 90% of mummies from children to people over 65 years of age have signs of tuberculosis infection at some point in their lives, and 35% are infected when they die.