5,500-year-old skeleton yields oldest evidence yet of syphilis-related bacteria

Scientists have recovered a genome of Treponema pallidum—the bacterium whose subspecies today are responsible for four treponemal diseases, including syphilis—from 5,500-year-old human remains in Sabana de Bogotá, Colombia. The research expands knowledge about the history of this infectious disease and its occurrence in human populations. The findings are published in the journal Science.