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The Origins of Syphilis: New Insights from Ancient DNA

Following King Charles VIII of France’s invasion of Italy in 1494, a mysterious and debilitating illness emerged in the army camps and subsequently spread throughout Europe as soldiers returned home the following year.

This outbreak is widely considered to be the earliest documented case of syphilis, yet the origins of the disease have sparked considerable debate among historians and scientists alike. Some scholars propose that syphilis originated in the Americas and reached Europe through Columbus’s voyages in 1493, while others argue that it may have existed in Europe prior to these explorations.

Recent advancements in genetic analysis of ancient DNA from skeletal remains across the Americas have begun to unravel this enigma. Pre-Columbian bones associated with the disease were found to contain genetic material from bacteria related to syphilis, indicating that the infection likely originated in the Americas long before Columbus’s arrival.

Syphilis is part of a small group of diseases that includes other infections such as yaws and bejel. While syphilis has a global presence, the other two are primarily identified as neglected tropical diseases found in equatorial regions. All three diseases are caused by various strains of the bacteria known as Treponema pallidum.

Dr. Kirsten Bos, who leads the molecular paleopathology group at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, stated, “We successfully reconstructed five genomes from these bones, which are closely related to modern strains of the bacterium actively found in humans today. They appear to have originated in the Americas.”

In a study published in Nature, Bos and her team explained their methodology in extracting ancient T. pallidum DNA from various skeletal remains, including a hip bone from Argentina, a leg bone from Chile, and bones from Mexico and Peru.

Thanks to radiocarbon dating, researchers were able to date the remains and trace the various bacterial strains back to a common ancestor that existed no more than 9,000 years ago. “This timeframe suggests that humans were well established in the Americas and had not yet encountered populations from other regions. Essentially, they were geographically and biologically isolated,” Bos noted.

The results imply that syphilis, along with its relatives, originated in the Americas and later disseminated worldwide through trade routes and European expansion throughout the Americas and Africa in the years following the initial epidemic.

However, this discovery may not conclusively end the debate surrounding the disease’s origins. “I don’t believe we’ve fully solved the mystery, as many significant questions remain,” Bos expressed. “Our dataset is only limited, and we are striving to conduct a thorough and comprehensive analysis while remaining open to various interpretations. The conversation about the narrative will undoubtedly continue.”

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