Scientists reported the epidemic of an unknown coronavirus or a pathogen similar to him, which struck Eastern Asia more than 20 thousand years ago. The results of the study of the International Group of Researchers are stated in the article in Current Biology, writes RBC.
“Modern human genomes contain information that can help identify viruses who have struck our ancestors. Independent evidence confirms the ancient coronavirus epidemic (or a virus with similar interaction),” scientists report
In their work, researchers used the project data 1000 Genomes Project, a publicly accessible catalog of general genetic variations.
It is reported that the epidemics of ancient RNA viruses often arose during the evolution of a person. Natural selection contributed to the spread in the human population of such genes, which coded proteins, physically interacting with viruses (Virus-Interacting Proteins, VIP) and contributing to protection against infections, reducing the severity of diseases.
As experts found out, the frequency of such genes is significantly higher in many populations of East Asia, but not observed in other groups of people.
Experts believe that evolutionary information can help develop future drugs and treatment methods.