Researchers have found that medieval manuscripts can serve as biological time capsules, preserving genetic traces of the sheeppox virus from centuries past. The findings suggest that other archives and libraries worldwide may similarly harbor genetic evidence of historical disease outbreaks.
Background
Sheeppox is a deadly viral disease affecting sheep and goats. Advances in ancient DNA extraction techniques now allow researchers to recover pathogen genetic material from historical artifacts and documents.
- Source
- Ars Technica
- Published
- Sep 5, 2026 at 03:01 AM
- Score
- 6.0 / 10