Mummified Liver Samples Allow Mapping of Antique Hepatitis Virus Genes

Advanced modern gene mapping techniques applied to liver samples taken from a 500 hundred year-old mummy have generated what may be the complete sequence of the oldest hepatitis B virus (HBV) isolate and the most ancient full viral genome known so far.

Investigators at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel) and their South Korean colleagues conducted DNA sequence mapping of liver biopsy specimens recovered from a mummified Korean child from the 16th century CE.

Analysis of the complete HBV genome (3,215 base pairs) was published in the May 21, 2012, online edition of the journal Hepatology. Results revealed a unique HBV genotype C2 sequence commonly spread in Southeast Asia, which probably represents an HBV strain that infected the population of Korea about five hundred years ago.

The calculated time of a most recent common ancestor suggests that the Korean HBV sequence origin dates back at least 3,000 years and possibly as long as 100,000 years. This isolate most likely represents the earliest human HBV sequence that colonized Southeast Asia via human migration.

The results of this study may help trace the spread of HBV. According to the World Health Organization, there are over 400 million carriers of the virus worldwide, predominantly in Africa, China, and South Korea, where up to 15% of the population are carriers of the virus. Fortunately, universal immunization of newborns against HBV in Israel and in South Korea has lead to a massive decline in the incidence of infection.

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