{"id":1023,"date":"2026-07-31T21:51:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T12:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/onepress.co.kr\/index.php\/briefing\/2026-07-31-smallpox-mummy-dna-en\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T21:51:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T12:51:00","slug":"2026-07-31-smallpox-mummy-dna-en","status":"publish","type":"briefing","link":"https:\/\/onepress.co.kr\/index.php\/briefing\/2026-07-31-smallpox-mummy-dna-en\/","title":{"rendered":"A mummy\u2019s bones answered a 500-year-old question: smallpox came from Europe"},"content":{"rendered":"

2026-07-31 21:51 KST<\/strong><\/p>\n

Smallpox virus DNA has been recovered from the bones of two mummified people in northern Chile. Their viral lineage sits between medieval European strains and later modern smallpox.<\/p>\n

This is the first direct genetic evidence that smallpox entered the Americas through European colonization. It does not identify the first carrier or the exact route.<\/p>\n

Thirteen bone samples, two infections<\/h2>\n

Researchers analyzed 13 bone samples from the Camarones 9 archaeological site in Chile\u2019s Arica y Parinacota region. Smallpox DNA appeared in one adult woman and one young man.<\/p>\n

The two people probably died between 1492 and 1631. Their viruses were nearly identical, suggesting they may have been infected during the same outbreak.<\/p>\n

Why the virus points back to Europe<\/h2>\n

Both genomes belonged to a now-extinct lineage. On the viral family tree, it falls between early medieval European smallpox and the modern strains that spread in later centuries.<\/p>\n

The lineage was estimated to have split around 1296. That pattern fits an Old World introduction better than a separate smallpox population already living in the Americas.<\/p>\n

\"A
A DNA laboratory image released by the University of Chile with the study. It does not show the mummified remains or the smallpox virus itself. Photo: Mauricio Moraga \/ Universidad de Chile.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It had already reached a community missing from the records<\/h2>\n

Both people had Indigenous ancestry with no detected European admixture. The finding shows the virus was moving within local communities, not only infecting people in direct contact with Europeans.<\/p>\n

No written smallpox outbreak was known at Camarones 9. The researchers suggest that existing networks in the Inca sphere may have carried the disease south.<\/p>\n

The virus changed alongside human history<\/h2>\n

The genomes also preserve a pattern of genes becoming inactive as smallpox specialized as a human-only pathogen.<\/p>\n

That process continued until the late 16th century, slowed for a period, and appears to have accelerated again around the spread of vaccination in the 19th century. Human movement and immunity may have changed the pressure on the virus.<\/p>\n

What remains unknown<\/h2>\n

Two people from one site cannot reveal the first infected person or the exact route. Possible paths include different European arrivals and movement through Africa and the slave trade.<\/p>\n

The estimated date also spans 139 years. The firm result is narrower: early colonial smallpox in the Americas was genetically connected to Old World strains.<\/p>\n

Official primary sources<\/h2>\n

Primary source: Science original research paper<\/a><\/p>\n

Primary source: Trinity College Dublin research release<\/a><\/p>\n

Primary source: University of Chile ICBM research release<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bones from two mummified people in northern Chile yielded the first ancient smallpox genomes found in the Americas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":[],"class_list":["post-1023","briefing","type-briefing","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onepress.co.kr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/briefing\/1023","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onepress.co.kr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/briefing"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onepress.co.kr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/briefing"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onepress.co.kr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}