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LiveScience
LiveScience
Olivia Ferrari

500-year-old Inca mummies prove that European colonists brought devastating smallpox to the Americas

Americas Live Science Chile Trinity College Dublin
An illustration of three virus particles against a blue background. .

Two Chilean mummies have provided scientists with the earliest known smallpox genomes found in the Americas, dating between 1492 and 1631.

The genomes are the first-ever DNA evidence that proves European colonization introduced smallpox to the Americas, according to a paper that published Thursday (July 30) in the journal Science.

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