Korean Mummy Holds Clues to Disease

!oohaY ^ | Wednesday, Jul 25, 2007 | Jeanna Bryner

[SunkenCiv]

The liver of a child mummy preserved for 500 years still holds samples of the hepatitis B virus... Mark Spigelman of the Kuvin Center for the Study of Infectious and Tropical Diseases at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem... is a paleo-epidemiologist, who studies ancient diseases found on mummified bodies to shed light on the modern forms of such illnesses. This is the first time hepatitis B has been spotted in a mummified body. In South Korea, 12 percent of the population are hepatitis carriers, more than double the world average. The virus, responsible for about 1 million deaths each year, spreads through contact with an infected person's body fluids, such as blood and semen. The body typically recovers from the infection on its own after a few months, but chronic infections can last a lifetime and cause scarring of the liver, liver cancer or failure. Until recently, scientists didn't think mummies existed in South Korea. A building boom in the country has led to the relocation of many cemeteries and the discovery of mummies... Spigelman is now part of an international team, including experts from the Liver Unit at Hadassah University Hospital-Ein Kerem in Jerusalem, Dankook University, Seoul National University and University College London. The researchers will compare the genome of the 500-year-old virus with today's hepatitis B to see how it evolved over the centuries.

[SunkenCiv]

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