Scientists successfully sequence genome of Pompeii's victims for the first time

In a first, scientists have successfully sequenced the genome of Pompeii's victims from the remains of a man and woman buried who were buried when the Roman city was engulfed in volcanic ash.

The study, which has been published in the journal Scientific Reports, has analysed the first "Pompeian human genome".

Encased in time-hardened ash, the DNA was preserved in bodies that were first discovered in 1933 inside Casa del Fabbro, or 'The Craftsman's House.'

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Almost as though they were having lunch when the eruption occurred on 24 August 79AD, both bodies were slumped in the corner of the dining room.

Now scientists at the University of Copenhagen were only able to sequence the entire genome from the man’s remains due to gaps in the sequences obtained from the woman.

“Being charcoal, fragile and evanescent, which could not last a long time, it is more than likely that it was written in October 79 AD,” said Massimo Osanna, head of the Pompeii site.

Gabriele Scorrano, from the Lundbeck GeoGenetics centre in Copenhagen, who led the study, "It was all about the preservation of the skeletons."

"It's the first thing we looked at, and it looked promising, so we decided to give [DNA extraction] a shot."

"New sequencing machines can [read] several whole genomes at the same time," he said.

According to Serena Viva, an anthropologist at the University in Salento who was on the study’s team, “This could have been the reason for which they waited for it all to finish, maybe in the security of their home, compared to other victims who were fleeing and whose remains were found in open spaces.”

“In the future many more genomes from Pompeii can be studied,” said Viva.

“The victims of Pompeii experienced a natural catastrophe, a thermal shock, and it was not known that you could preserve their genetic material. This study provides this confirmation, and that new technology on genetic analysis allows us to sequence genomes also on damaged material.”

(With inputs from agencies)

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