Project description
Ancient DNA tracks TB spread in South America
Tuberculosis (TB) is a highly infectious disease caused by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC). Research has focused primarily on specific lineages, particularly lineage four, which spread from Europe to the Americas during colonial expansion. However, recent advancements in ancient DNA research offer the potential for a more comprehensive understanding of TB. MTBC likely emerged 6 000 years ago, at a later timeframe than previously believed. The EU-funded PATHOGEN project will employ ancient DNA methods to investigate positive TB infections in humans from Argentina. Its goal is to illuminate the diversity and spread of MTBC strains in the Southern Cone of the Americas and provide a fresh perspective on the evolutionary and epidemiological histories of TB.
Objective
Tuberculosis (TB), the infectious disease produced by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC), remains one of the highest
global disease burdens. However, the current body of knowledge on the MTBC is biased towards certain lineages, particularly lineage 4 that spread from Europe to the Americas during colonial expansion. Recent advances in ancient DNA research have the potential to broaden this picture with the recovery and analysis of whole genomes from strains that infected human populations in the past. Indeed, these approaches have been recently used to identify ancient MTBC animal associated strains infecting humans in South American before the arrival of Europeans. Analysis of these strains estimated that the MTBC most likely emerged during the Neolithic approximately 6000 years ago (much later than previously thought). The PATHOGEN project, will seek to use these approaches to shed new light on the emergence, diversity and spread of MTBC strains in the Southern Cone of the Americas, a neglected region concerning the epidemiological history of TB. By employing ancient DNA methods to examine and screen putatively positive TB infections of humans from archaeological and historic contexts of the current territory of Argentina, I will potentially provide genomic representation of TB histories over a broad time transect from precolonial populations to post-colonial cemeteries. With these data, I will perform phylogenomic and molecular clock analyses to investigate i) changes in strain diversity over time in the region, ii) the historical and socio-economical contexts that favoured the emergence and spread of the detected strains, iii) the emergence of genetic changes with potential clinical relevance identified in MTBC strains over the past centuries. By offering a view of the past, the PATHOGEN project will increase our understanding of the diversity of MTBC across time and contribute a new perspective of the evolutionary and epidemiological histories of TB.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- humanities history and archaeology history
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics DNA
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine pneumology tuberculosis
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics genomes
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
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Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2022-PF-01
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75724 Paris
France
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