Ancient virus hunters: how we discovered sheeppox DNA hidden in medieval gospels

By Kevin Daly, Associate Professor, University College Dublin
Louis L'Hôte, PhD Candidate in ancient pathogen genetics, School of Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin

Humans and domesticated animals have lived together for millennia, and this relationship has shaped their destinies in countless ways. Animals offered people food, companionship, traction (pulling ploughs), clothing and transport.

They also provided something less obvious but extraordinarily important: parchment to write on. This robust, plentiful and portable material enabled many people to record and store their histories in the days before mass-produced paper.

Parchment was made with the skins of a range of animals. From first-hand experience in a workshop…

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