Ancient Mummy DNA Provides Scientific Evidence that Colonization Brought Smallpox to the Americas
Ancient mummy DNA shows the virus belonged to an extinct variola lineage and offers the strongest genetic evidence yet that Europe introduced smallpox to Indigenous communities.
- Researchers at Trinity College Dublin identified the oldest viral smallpox DNA in the Americas from two Chilean mummies, providing the first direct molecular evidence of the pathogen in the region.
- Smallpox decimated Indigenous populations after European colonizers arrived in the Americas during the late 15th century, with the mummies dated to between 1492 and 1631.
- Molecular analysis indicates the strains existed in a now-extinct variola virus lineage bridging Old World European variants and later types, with genetic deceleration during colonial expansion.
- This discovery provides the first molecular confirmation that smallpox was carried to the Americas during the colonial period, proving Europe directly introduced the virus to Indigenous populations.
- Evidence helps clarify how the virus reached remote regions, as written records for Chile begin significantly later than the colonial era, filling a critical historical gap.
42 Articles
42 Articles
Researchers now have the first direct molecular evidence for the smallpox that was inadvertently transferred from the Old to the New World and wiped out millions of people in Central and South America.
Smallpox DNA is recovered from Spanish conquest-era Chilean mummies
When Spanish conquistadors arrived in the New World some five centuries ago, they brought muskets, cannons, armor, horses and attack dogs as they set about colonizing the Americas. But the biggest blow they delivered came from something else entirely — smallpox and other infectious diseases that ravaged indigenous populations.
The oldest virus samples found on American soil had already fully adapted to humans
Associated Press News
Ancient mummy DNA provides scientific evidence that colonization brought smallpox to the Americas
New research says ancient mummy DNA provides the firmest evidence yet that European colonization brought smallpox to the Americas.
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