8 years ago
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H. pylori bacteria from the gut of Ötzi the “Iceman” indicates that early European farmers had intimate contact with Asians before migrating to Europe
On the day that Ötzi the “Iceman” was murdered in the Tyrolean Alps of Italy about 5300 years ago, he had a full stomach—and a tummy bug. But it wasn’t just any gut microbe—this early farmer was infected with a particular ancient strain of Helicobacter pylori bacteria that is most similar to modern Asian strains.
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http://news.sciencemag.org
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inb4 reemergence of that virus because they didn't contain it well enough.
Not to worry - loads of us have H. pylori in our stomach and it doesn't cause too many problems most of the time. They have been linked to ulcers and stomach cancer, but eliminating H. pylori from the stomachs in children (through antibiotics for ear infections, most commonly) has also been linked to increased asthma rates. It's a very "cool" bacteria, or very interesting if nothing else.
Ah, I see.