Maria Lopopolo
@marialopopolo.bsky.social
Ballerina 💃 postdoctoral researcher in Paleo(meta)genomics and Evolutionary Dynamics of Infectious Diseases at Institut Pasteur, Paris- ancient bugs | infectious diseases and microbiome☠️🔍
🏠🇮🇹-->🇩🇰 🇬🇧🇨🇵
🏠🇮🇹-->🇩🇰 🇬🇧🇨🇵
Reposted by Maria Lopopolo
An August addendum to this 🧵 on new studies documenting the presence of Mycobacterium lepromatosis in the pre-Contact Americas. @marialopopolo.bsky.social, lead author of the study in @science.org that came out in May, has won the @isba11.bsky.social Best Paper prize! bsky.app/profile/nras... Kudos!
@isba11.bsky.social
Super happy and proud for @marialopopolo.bsky.social and @avanzich.bsky.social who got the prize to the best paper at #ISBA11 in Turin.
Thanks to the jury for this honor!
Super happy and proud for @marialopopolo.bsky.social and @avanzich.bsky.social who got the prize to the best paper at #ISBA11 in Turin.
Thanks to the jury for this honor!
August 30, 2025 at 2:02 PM
An August addendum to this 🧵 on new studies documenting the presence of Mycobacterium lepromatosis in the pre-Contact Americas. @marialopopolo.bsky.social, lead author of the study in @science.org that came out in May, has won the @isba11.bsky.social Best Paper prize! bsky.app/profile/nras... Kudos!
Reposted by Maria Lopopolo
Nicolas Rascovan @nrascovan.bsky.social est biologiste, directeur de recherche à l'Institut Pasteur de l’équipe de Paléogénomique microbienne et dernier auteur de l'étude. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Pre-European contact leprosy in the Americas and its current persistence
Leprosy, primarily caused by Mycobacterium leprae, is considered a disease introduced into the Americas during European colonization. However, the recent discovery of a second pathogen causing leprosy...
www.science.org
June 6, 2025 at 6:32 AM
Nicolas Rascovan @nrascovan.bsky.social est biologiste, directeur de recherche à l'Institut Pasteur de l’équipe de Paléogénomique microbienne et dernier auteur de l'étude. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Maria Lopopolo
And this blogpost for #WorldLeprosyDay2025 adds in the story for the "medieval" Pacific world: constantinusafricanus.com/2025/01/26/l.... With this latest work by @marialopopolo.bsky.social @nrascovan.bsky.social et al., we now have the outlines of a complete global picture. #histmed #MedievalSky
Leprosy in the Global Middle Ages: A Slow Pandemic
In August 2024, Jordan became the first country to officially eliminate leprosy.1 Countries participating in the World Health Organization (WHO)2 have committed not simply to bringing percentages o…
constantinusafricanus.com
May 30, 2025 at 10:57 AM
And this blogpost for #WorldLeprosyDay2025 adds in the story for the "medieval" Pacific world: constantinusafricanus.com/2025/01/26/l.... With this latest work by @marialopopolo.bsky.social @nrascovan.bsky.social et al., we now have the outlines of a complete global picture. #histmed #MedievalSky
This research was done in respectful cooperation with Indigenous communities. We thank the Lax Kw’alaams & Metlakatla First Nations, and the local communties in Argentina, for their trust. Science must listen, partner, and follow the lead of communities who carry ancestral knowledge.
May 29, 2025 at 9:08 PM
This research was done in respectful cooperation with Indigenous communities. We thank the Lax Kw’alaams & Metlakatla First Nations, and the local communties in Argentina, for their trust. Science must listen, partner, and follow the lead of communities who carry ancestral knowledge.
Huge thanks to the Microbial Paleogenomics Unit and my super supportive colleagues @institutpasteur.bsky.social and all 40+ co-authors who made this work possible. A massive cross-continental effort 🧬🌎
May 29, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Huge thanks to the Microbial Paleogenomics Unit and my super supportive colleagues @institutpasteur.bsky.social and all 40+ co-authors who made this work possible. A massive cross-continental effort 🧬🌎
According to new molecular clock analyses, M. leprae and M. lepromatosis split between max only ~2 million years ago (not 14Mya as previously estimated). This puts their divergence in a more recent ecological and evolutionary context—much closer to today’s host and environmental conditions.
May 29, 2025 at 9:08 PM
According to new molecular clock analyses, M. leprae and M. lepromatosis split between max only ~2 million years ago (not 14Mya as previously estimated). This puts their divergence in a more recent ecological and evolutionary context—much closer to today’s host and environmental conditions.
Molecular clock analyses fine tuned with the collaboration of @sebduchene.bsky.social traced all current M. lepromatosis to a tMRCA of ~9,400 years ago—long before Europeans arrived. Leprosy was already in the continent for a long time. ⏳
May 29, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Molecular clock analyses fine tuned with the collaboration of @sebduchene.bsky.social traced all current M. lepromatosis to a tMRCA of ~9,400 years ago—long before Europeans arrived. Leprosy was already in the continent for a long time. ⏳
The biggest surprise: M. lepromatosis DNA was found in pre-colonial individuals from today’s territory of Canada and Argentina. The disease was widespread in the Late Holocene.
May 29, 2025 at 9:08 PM
The biggest surprise: M. lepromatosis DNA was found in pre-colonial individuals from today’s territory of Canada and Argentina. The disease was widespread in the Late Holocene.
A modern strains with ~4,000 mutations may be relics of a deeper, ancient North American lineage. This strains suggest that M. lepromatosis may have even jumped to red squirrels in the UK ~200 years ago 🐿️ 🧬⚡
May 29, 2025 at 9:08 PM
A modern strains with ~4,000 mutations may be relics of a deeper, ancient North American lineage. This strains suggest that M. lepromatosis may have even jumped to red squirrels in the UK ~200 years ago 🐿️ 🧬⚡