Researchers sequenced the genome of one of Pompeii’s ancient inhabitants
. Associated symptoms include back pain and lower body paralysis. “The condition would have forced him to have little mobility,” Dr. Pier Francesco Fabbri, one of the anthropologists who contributed to the paper, toldIt’s very possible the man, who was about 35 years old when he died, would have had difficulty fleeing Pompeii even if he wanted to escape the burning city.
We now also have a better idea of the man’s origins. Comparing his DNA against 1,030 ancient and 471 present-day West Eurasian individuals, the research team concluded that some of his ancestors came from Anatolia, which is now mostly part of modern Turkey. He also had links to the island of Sardinia. However, he had the most genetic similarities with people who lived in and around Rome during Pompeii’s destruction.
With so little left from that time, our understanding of the ancient world will always be imperfect, but thanks to advances in technology, we’re constantly learning more about what life was like thousands of years ago. It was only at the end of last year that researchers “unwrapped” one of the most