Researchers at the University of Copenhagen have genetically sequenced the whipworm, one of the earliest human parasites, using stool samples from Viking latrines. The map shows how the parasite has spread over the world and how it interacts with people, a complex connection that may both make us healthy and ill.
Researchers from the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences at the University of Copenhagen and the Wellcome Sanger Institute (UK) have performed the largest and most thorough genetic analysis of the whipworm, one of the oldest parasites found in humans, using fossilized eggs in up to 2500-year-old feces from Viking settlements in Denmark and other nations.
In developed nations, whipworm (Trichuris trichiura) is now uncommon and often only causes minor issues in healthy people, but the parasite is thought to impact 500 million people in underdeveloped nations.
Whipworm can cause significant sickness in those with compromised immune systems or inadequate nutrition. Thanks to our mapping of the whipworm and its genetic development, it is now possible to produce more effective anti-worm drugs that can be used to halt the spread of this parasite in the most underdeveloped regions of the world, claims the UCPH Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences Professor Christian Kapel.
Latrine waste from Copenhagen and Viborg has gone extinct.
Researchers were able to investigate the genetic makeup of thousands of years-old whipworms using eggs rather than worms. The inside DNA of the eggs has been well conserved when they have been buried in damp soil because of the exceptionally durable chitin in their capsules.
Scientists have long known that parasite eggs as ancient as 9,000 years have been discovered under a microscope. Fortunately for us, the eggs are made to last for a long time in soil. Even the parasite’s genetic material can be extraordinarily well maintained in ideal circumstances. The oldest eggs from which we have extracted DNA date back 5000 years, among others. The complete genomic mapping of 1000-year-old, well-preserved whipworm eggs in this latest work has been rather astonishing “Christian Kapel adds.
Can remain undetected for months in the intestine.
In the gut of a healthy person, a whipworm can develop to a length of five to seven centimeters and remain undetected for several months. It continues to lay eggs throughout this period, and the eggs are excreted through feces. Whipworm can result in a variety of gastrointestinal illnesses, malnutrition, and even a delay in a child’s development in persons with compromised immune systems.
The fecal-oral channel of transmission for worms allows for the passage of tiny parasite eggs from soil to food or drink, where they then enter the mouth of a new host and are eaten.
The development of the eggs takes around three months under the ground. Eggs have a longer lifespan after they reach maturity because they wait to be ingested by a new host, in whose stomach they will eventually hatch. To spend as much time as possible in soil, their entire life cycle has been modified “Kapel, Christian, says.