Name: Tracking ancient diseases using ... plaque
Uploaded: 2012-04-20T15:13:02Z
Duration: 5 min 14 s
Description: Imagine what we could learn about diseases by studying the history of human disease, from ancient hominids to the present. But how? TED Fellow Christina Warinner is an achaeological geneticist, and she's found a spectacular new tool -- the microbial DNA in fossilized dental plaque.

Imagine what we could learn about diseases by studying the history of human disease, from ancient hominids to the present. But how? TED Fellow Christina Warinner is an achaeological geneticist, and she's found a spectacular new tool -- the microbial DNA in fossilized dental plaque.

Christina Warinner: Tracking ancient diseases using ... plaque

Tracking ancient diseases using ... plaque

Dental calculus reveals human health's evolutionary journey, offering insights into past diets, diseases, and microbial interactions.

Ancient dental plaque provides a window into the lungs and gut's microbial life, crucial for understanding past infectious diseases.

By examining fossilized dental plaque, researchers unlock secrets of human evolution, diet, and disease across millennia.