Overview
- Researchers recovered and reconstructed T. pallidum DNA from a tibia at the Tequendama I site in the Sabana de Bogotá, producing the oldest known genetic evidence of this pathogen.
- The genome does not match modern treponemal subspecies linked to syphilis, yaws or bejel, indicating a previously unknown, early-branching lineage.
- Molecular-clock analyses reported by the team estimate this lineage split from other T. pallidum lineages roughly 13,700 years ago, with modern subspecies diverging about 6,000 years ago.
- The find pushes the pathogen’s genetic record back by roughly 3,000 years and strengthens evidence that treponemal infections were present in the Americas long before European contact.
- DNA was retrieved from a bone without visible lesions, expanding sampling strategies in paleogenomics, while questions remain about ancient transmission routes and broader distribution.