Sacred pages of 1,000-year-old gospel reveal ancient DNA scientists never expected

Scientists recently discovered traces of an ancient disease in an unlikely place: the pages of a 1,000-year-old gospel book.

The discovery, which centered on the York Gospels, was announced by University College Dublin (UCD) in early September.

In a study recently published in Science Advances, UCD researchers traced thousands of years of evolution of the sheeppox virus using ancient DNA preserved in manuscripts and animal remains.

DAMAGED FRAGMENT DEEMED ‘UNREMARKABLE’ TURNS OUT TO BE RARE PIECE OF HOMER’S ‘ODYSSEY’ HISTORY

The highly contagious disease affects sheep but is not known to infect humans. Researchers detected its DNA in the animal skins...