Human tuberculosis - an ancient disease, as elucidated by ancient microbial biomolecules

Tuberculosis is a major cause of death but infected people with effective immunity may remain healthy for years, suggesting long-term coexistence of host and pathogen. Direct detection and characterisation of ancient microbial DNA and lipid biomarkers confirms palaeopathological diagnoses. Archaeological Mycobacterium tuberculosis resembles extant lineages indicating the timescale for evolutionary changes is considerably longer than originally believed. (C) 2009 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.