Genital herpes was awarded to us by paranthropes
Scientists have established from whom modern man inherited genital herpes
Natalia Pelezneva, Naked Science
Researchers from the University of Cambridge and Oxford Brookes University have discovered how the herpes simplex virus of the second type was able to overcome the interspecific barrier between chimpanzees and the ancestors of Homo sapiens. The culprit of the spread of the virus was called the Boyce paranthropus (Paranthropus boisei) – a representative of one of the species of massive Australopithecus. Scientists suggest that Boyce's paranthropus has become a link in the chain of virus spread.
Herpes simplex is caused by two types of viruses: HSV-1 and HSV-2. The first type is usually associated with the appearance of oral herpes ("colds on the lips"), the second more often causes genital herpes, manifested in the genital area. According to the World Health Organization, the second type of virus affects 11% of people aged 15 to 49 years. There are no drugs that can remove the virus from the body.
It is believed that the common ancestors of humans and chimpanzees were exposed to the first type of virus. It was still unclear when and under what circumstances the transmission of the second type of virus occurred. Earlier studies allowed us to outline only an approximate framework: this happened from 1.4 to 3 million years ago.
The authors of the new work have compiled a map of the habitats of various species of human ancestors in Africa, based on known finds of remains. This information was compared with data on the distribution of extinct populations of chimpanzees and bonobos, as well as with paleoclimatological data – a graph of changes in the African climate and landscape over millennia. One of the authors of the work, anthropologist Simon Underdown, comments: "Comparing the climatic data and the regions where the remains were found helped us to identify the species that were most likely to have come into contact with chimpanzees in the forests, and with other hominins near water sources." According to scientists, it was the combination of these conditions that allowed the virus to cross the barrier between chimpanzees and human ancestors.
The most likely candidate turned out to be Boyce's paranthropus.
Drawing from the University of Cambridge press release
Meet the hominin species that gave us genital herpes – VM.
Researchers believe that representatives of this species met with the virus by eating the meat of chimpanzees infected with HSV-2. At the water sources, Boyce's paranthropus came into contact with other hominins, including Homo erectus. Representatives of this species have become the next link in the chain of the spread of the virus. As today, the virus remains in the affected body forever, and can also be transmitted sexually and from mother to child during childbirth. According to the authors of the study, their technique can help find the roots of many diseases that were once transmitted to the ancestors of humans from other primates.
The study is published in the journal Virus Evolution (Underdown et al., Network analysis of the hominin origin of Herpes Simplex virus 2 from fossil data).
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru