Hitchhiking Virus Confirms Saga of Ancient Human Migration

A study of the full genetic code of a common human virus offers a dramatic confirmation of the "out-of-Africa" pattern of human migration, which had previously been documented by anthropologists and studies of the human genome.

World map featuring the geographic location of the 6 HSV-1 clades with respect to human migration..

The virus under study, herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), usually causes nothing more severe than cold sores around the mouth, says Curtis Brandt, a professor of medical microbiology and ophthalmology at UW-Madison. Brandt is senior author of the study, now online in the journal PLOS ONE.

When Brandt and co-authors Aaron Kolb and Cécile Ané compared 31 strains of HSV-1 collected in North America, Europe, Africa and Asia, "the result was fairly stunning," says Brandt. [...] sciencedaily.com


Actualización 30-10-13. El virus del herpes confirma el origen africano del 'Homo sapiens'
Un estudio del código genético de un virus común de la humanidad ofrece una excepcional confirmación de la teoría "Fuera de África" (Out of Africa) sobre la migración humana, la cual previamente había sido documentada por los antropólogos y diversos estudios sobre el genoma humano...