The outbreak of a mysterious disease ravaged Europe in the late 15th century, shortly after Christopher Columbus and his crew returned from the Americas. Experts have debated for centuries where this malady — now known as syphilis — originated. Now, new research into ancient genomes has finally provided an answer: It turns out, syphilis came from the Americas, not Europe.

“The data clearly support a root in the Americas for syphilis and its known relatives,” study co-author Kirsten Bos, an archaeogeneticist at the Max Planck Insтιтute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, said in a statement. “Their introduction to Europe starting in the late 15th century is most consistent with the data.”

The researchers analyzed human skeletons from numerous archaeological sites in the Americas for evidence of syphilis and related diseases. They revealed their findings in a study published Dec. 18 in the journal Nature.

Bacteria in the genus Treponema cause the non-venereal diseases pinta, bejel and yaws in addition to venereal syphilis, and these are collectively known as treponemal diseases. All of these diseases can cause the destruction and remodeling of bone during a person’s life, so archaeologists have long investigated pre-Columbian skeletons in the Americas for clues to the origin of syphilis.

But clear genetic evidence of syphilis has been more difficult to find because of the poor preservation of treponemal DNA over the centuries.
The origins of syphilis, a Sєxually transmitted infection that devastated Europe during the late 15th century, have puzzled researchers for decades. A new study, published in Nature, provides groundbreaking insights into the debate over whether the disease originated in the Americas or existed in Europe before the voyages of Christopher Columbus. Drawing on ancient DNA from archaeological remains across the Americas, the study strongly supports the hypothesis that syphilis and its related diseases have deep roots in the Americas