Noteworthy

The ability to isolate DNA from ancient samples has yielded astounding insights into the histories of microbial pathogens. A recent study using DNA recovered from a skeleton in the Americas now indicates that Treponema pallidum, the causative agent of the deadly sexually transmitted disease syphilis, was circulating in the Americas much earlier than previously thought.  

Identification of a ~5500-year-old 1.7× T. pallidum genome (TE1‑3) from a Middle Holocene individual at T...