Hepatitis B Genetic Evolution from Stone Age Uncovered

Understanding the molecular origins of infectious diseases such as hepatitis B can provide valuable insight as to how viral pathogens spread through human populations and the mutations the lead to increased virulence. Now, an international team of scientists led by investigators at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History and the University of Kiel has been able to successfully reconstruct the genomes of hepatitis B isolated from Stone Age and Medieval skeletal remains. Findings