Scientists Have Been Able To Fully Sequence The DNA Of A Man Who Died In Pompeii
After Mount Vesuvius erupted in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii in 79 C.E., the volcanic ash helped preserve the city’s ruins, allowing archaeologists to uncover them centuries later.
Aside from buildings and artifacts, the bodies of the victims who perished during the disaster were perfectly preserved.
For the very first time, scientists have been able to fully sequence the DNA of a man who died in the eruption. His remains were encased in volcanic ash. The study can be found in the journal Scientific Reports.
The man’s bones were discovered alongside another set of remains at the Casa del Fabbro in Pompeii.
He was five feet and four inches tall and was in his late 30s or early 40s at the time of his death. The second set of remains belonged to a woman who was five feet tall and over 50-years-old.
Both of the bodies were lying in the dining room of a home, indicating that they were simply going about their day when the volcano erupted.
Many others in Pompeii met the same fate in their own homes, which might mean that they were unaware of the dangers of the eruption.
Researchers tried to extract DNA from the female’s bones, but they could not get enough information to perform a complete analysis.
When the man’s bones were tested, they learned that he likely had spinal tuberculosis. Historical records from ancient Rome suggest that the disease was common.
Arcady – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only
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Now that the scientists have successfully sequenced the man’s DNA, they hope to employ the technique on other remains.
“In the future, many more genomes from Pompeii can be studied,” Serena Viva, a co-author of the study and an anthropologist at the University of Salento, said.
“The victims of Pompeii experienced a natural catastrophe, a thermal shock, and it was not known that you could preserve their genetic material.”
According to Viva, the latest study has confirmed that new analytical technology for genetics can sequence genomes on damaged matter. Additionally, the way that the residents of Pompeii died helped preserve more of their DNA.
The chemical substances that were produced during the volcanic eruption may have protected their bodies from succumbing to decay.
Oxygen and water are some of the environmental factors that cause DNA degradation. There were low amounts of both at Pompeii, limiting the degradation of DNA.
The Pompeiian man’s genetic profile matched the central Italian population that lived during the Roman Imperial Age. His ancestors likely traveled from Anatolia to Italy sometime during the Neolithic period.
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