Ny studie visar spår av virus i historiska skelettmaterial
3 July 2018
En ny internationell studie visar betydelsen av att studera historiska skelettmaterial för att öka kunskapen om hur virus utvecklas.
I den aktuella studien har forskarna genomfört genetiska analyser av skelettmaterial från människor från olika tider och i olika delar av världen. Sabine Sten, professor i osteoarkeologi vid institutionen för arkeologi och antik historia vid Uppsala universitet Campus Gotland, är en av medförfattarna till artikeln.
Hon är själv osteolog, vilket betyder att hon studerar och analyserar delar av eller hela skelett från både människor och djur i arkeologiska material.
– I den här studien har jag tillsammans med en forskare från Köpenhamns universitet hjälpt till att ta fram delar från vikingatida skelett från Gotland, som sedan analyserats vidare vid Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum of Denmark. Med hjälp av genetiska analyser kan man se vilka sjukdomsanlag en individ har, något man inte alltid kan se genom att studera skelettet enbart med osteologiska analyser, säger hon.
I dna-analyserna hittade forskarna spår av ett virus, parvovirus B19, som orsakar sjukdomen femte sjukan. Det är en sjukdom som smittar via luften och ger symtom som utslag, värk, feber och ibland ledbesvär hos vuxna.
– Det som är intressant och stort är att man har hittat spår av dna i benmärgen av samma virus från skelett från olika delar av världen och från olika tidsåldrar. Det visar hur människor har rört sig mellan olika platser i världen och på så sätt kan man studera hur och när sjukdomar har spritt sig genom tiderna, säger Sabine Sten.
– Det här kan vara ett av de första fynden av det här slaget som man har gjort i ett historiskt osteologiskt material, fortsätter hon.
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Läs mer
Artikeln ”Ancient human parvovirus B19 in Eurasia reveals its long-term association with humans” publicerades i den vetenskapliga tidskriften PNAS den 2 juli.
www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1804921115
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