Ashmita Gupta15 May 2024, 14:54
Researchers sifted through DNA extracted from Neanderthal remains in Chagyrskaya Cave, Russia, to look for traces of three notorious DNA viruses — adenovirus, herpesvirus, and papillomavirus. Remarkably, all three were present, shattering the record for the oldest human viruses ever discovered. These findings hint that Neanderthals battled some of the same viruses we do today.