Ancient Treponema Genome Rewrites the History of Syphilis

Researchers reconstructed the oldest Treponema pallidum genome from a 5,500-year-old Colombian hunter-gatherer, revealing a previously unknown lineage that diverged from modern strains before subspecies formed. The discovery shows treponemal diseases circulated in the Americas long before agriculture or dense populations, suggesting hunter‑gatherer ecologies and mobility helped spread the pathogen and expanding the historical context for syphilis origins.