31,600-year-old human virus genomes support a Pleistocene origin for common childhood infections
S. Holtsmark Nielsen, L. van Dorp, C. J. Houldcroft, A. G. Pedersen, M. E. Allentoft, L. Vinner, A. Margaryan, E. Pavlova, V. Chasnyk, P. Nikolskiy, V. Pitulko, V. N. Pimenoff, F. Balloux, M. Sikora
The paper analyzes ancient virus genomes from 31,600-year-old human remains, showing that common childhood infections originated in the Pleistocene.
bioRxiv · Jun 28, 2021 · PreprintEvolutionary Biology