Tuberculosis

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barbiandjohn

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As everyone knows, there has been quite the hubbub regarding Andrew Speaker. I just heard on our local news that a student at CU in Pueblo, Colorado has died of tuberculosis at Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs. I'm sure the newspaper, gazette.com, will have an article tomorrow June 12. Does anyone think this is a bit odd?
 
Hi, revived this old thread to share this recent article (published 23 jan 2023) , how genetics work never ceases to amaze me, Source iScience :

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Genomic evidence for adaptation to tuberculosis in the Andes before European contact​

Highlights​

Indigenous people of Ecuador may have adapted to tuberculosis over 3,000 years ago

Selection in cardiovascular and hypoxia pathways distinct from Peruvian populations

Population collapse at arrival of Europeans more severe than other areas of the Andes

Summary​

Most studies focusing on human high-altitude adaptation in the Andean highlands have thus far been focused on Peruvian populations. We present high-coverage whole genomes from Indigenous people living in the Ecuadorian highlands and perform multi-method scans to detect positive natural selection. We identified regions of the genome that show signals of strong selection to both cardiovascular and hypoxia pathways, which are distinct from those uncovered in Peruvian populations. However, the strongest signals of selection were related to regions of the genome that are involved in immune function related to tuberculosis. Given our estimated timing of this selection event, the Indigenous people of Ecuador may have adapted to Mycobacterium tuberculosis thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans. Furthermore, we detect a population collapse that coincides with the arrival of Europeans, which is more severe than other regions of the Andes, suggesting differing effects of contact across high-altitude populations.

Graphical abstract​

Figure thumbnail fx1



Abstract of the wiki page on this disease say :

"

History​


Tuberculosis has existed since antiquity.[16] The oldest unambiguously detected M. tuberculosis gives evidence of the disease in the remains of bison in Wyoming dated to around 17,000 years ago.[159] However, whether tuberculosis originated in bovines, then transferred to humans, or whether both bovine and human tuberculosis diverged from a common ancestor, remains unclear.[160] A comparison of the genes of M. tuberculosis complex (MTBC) in humans to MTBC in animals suggests humans did not acquire MTBC from animals during animal domestication, as researchers previously believed. Both strains of the tuberculosis bacteria share a common ancestor, which could have infected humans even before the Neolithic Revolution.[161] Skeletal remains show some prehistoric humans (4000 BC) had TB, and researchers have found tubercular decay in the spines of Egyptian mummies dating from 3000 to 2400 BC.[162] Genetic studies suggest the presence of TB in the Americas from about AD 100. "
 
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