Researchers dig up secrets of gut microbiomes from thousands of years ago What do you get when an archeologist and a gut microbiome researcher collaborate? Ancient poop.
An international research team was able to analyze DNA from 50,000-year-old fecal sediments sampled at the archaeological site of El Salt, near Alicante, Spain, a location where Neanderthals lived before they disappeared from the scene. The fecal material the oldest available to date was excavated by an archeologist from the University of La Laguna, Campus de Guajara, Spain, and then sent to the University of Bologna for the analysis.
The study, published in the journal
Scientists have studied 50,000-year-old Neanderthal poop, and analyzed the DNA of microbes to determine their gut microbiome. Many species are still present in modern humans, revealing the "old friend" bacteria that may be most crucial to our health.
Updated Feb 07, 2021 | 10:45 IST
Neanderthals gut microbiota already included some beneficial micro-organisms that are also found in our own intestine, suggest the findings of a new study. Study reveals Neanderthals gut microbiota, bacteria helping our health | Photo Credits: Pixabay
Bologna [Italy]: Neanderthals gut microbiota already included some beneficial micro-organisms that are also found in our own intestine, suggest the findings of a new study.
An international research group led by the University of Bologna achieved this result by extracting and analysing ancient DNA from 50,000-year-old faecal sediments sampled at the archaeological site of El Salt, near Alicante (Spain).
Published in Communication Biology, their paper puts forward the hypothesis of the existence of ancestral components of human microbiota that have been living in the human gastrointestinal tract since before the separation between the Homo Sapiens and Neanderthals that