Researchers have discovered genes linked to antibiotic resistance in an 11th century mummy found in the Andes Mountains.
The finding suggests that gene mutations responsible for antibiotic resistance occurred naturally in 1,000-year-old bacteria and are not necessarily linked to the overuse of antibiotics.
An international team of scientists analysed the microbiome of the remains that were mummified naturally in the cold climate of the mountains.
The mummy, found in Cuzco, the ancient capital of the Inca empire, is currently stored in the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnology of the University of Florence, Italy. Gino Fornaciari, Professor of History of Medicine and Paleopathology at the University of Pisa, and colleagues carried out an autopsy on the mummy, Discovery News reported.
The mummy was arranged in a foetal position and wrapped in a basket. The researchers estimated the body belonged to a woman in the 18-23 age group.
The mummified heart, oesophagus and colon were abnormally enlarged, suggesting a symptom of a chronic case of Chagas disease — a potentially life-threatening condition caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi .
A team of researchers from California, Puerto Rico and Italy directed by Raul Cano, a Professor at the California Polytechnic State University, was able to fully sequence the bacteria DNA in the mummy’s colon and faeces.
The researchers found abundant DNA belonging to Trypanosoma cruzi , confirming the Chagas disease’s diagnosis already made by Professor Fornaciari in 1992 by other methods. The woman survived for some time, despite having advanced heart disease, mega-colon and mega-oesophagus, suggesting that she was probably treated with drugs, possibly coca leaves.
Analysis of the mummy’s microbiome also showed the presence of other disease caused by bacteria, such as Clostridium difficile , which causes diarrhoea and colitis, and some types of human papilloma virus (HPV).
The researchers identified antibiotic-resistant genes that would have made treatment with modern broad-spectrum antibiotics ineffective.
