Civil War smallpox vaccines analyzed

[lupaglupa]

"Ancient-DNA sleuths analyzing Civil War-era artifacts with 21st-century sequencing techniques have recreated five genomes of viral vaccines mustered to fight smallpox in the 1860s, finding they were quite different from those used a century later to finally wipe out the disease. Remarkably, scientists were able to recover viral molecules from the scabs, blisters, pus, and other biological traces lingering on knife-like lancets, tin boxes, and glass slides tucked into leather vaccination kits discovered at a Philadelphia museum of medical history."

Civil War vaccination kits, discovered in a drawer, yield genetic clues to how smallpox was defeated

Scientists were able to recover viral molecules from Civil War-era leather vaccination kits discovered at a Philadelphia museum of medical history.

www.statnews.com

 

[John Hartwell]

Very interesting and informative. Thanks for posting.