DNA -Analysis reveals what really killed Napoleon’s army in 1812

When Napoleon’s half-million-strong army retired from Russia in 1812, about half of the men were wiped out by illness, hunger and the extreme cold. Now, advanced DNA analysis has been a dream that pathogens have contributed to the disaster.

In the summer of 1812, Napoleon gathered as many as 600,000 troops for his invasion of Russia. However, the Tsar’s forces had left Moscow and Empied the City of Supplies and forced Napoleon to re -the Polish border for winter. Between October and December 1812, at least 300,000 French soldiers perished from hunger, cold and illness.

Historic brews from survivors suggested that typhoid and ditch fever were causes of dough for death and illness among the troops, and this was backed up by genetic testing almost two decades ago.

Now Nicolás Rascovan at the Pasteur Institute in Paris and his colleagues have examined DNA from the teeth of 13 of the soldiers buried in Vilnius, Lithuania, where many soldiers died during the retreat and found no evidence of eithus or trenchus.

Intead confirmed the team the presence of Salmonella EntericaThat causes paratyfoid fever and Borrelia is repeatedwhich is transmitted by body license and causes relaxing fever.

The previous studies that are related to a technique that amplifiing specific DNA sequences already suspected of being present. Rascovan and his colleagues used more advanced metagenomic analysis, which can detect the genetic material in any pathogens in the sample, making it much more understanding.

“In the light of our results, a reasonable scenario for the deaths of these Soldemen would be a combination of fatigue, cold and several diseases, including paratyphoid fever and lice -borne reluctant fever,” Write Rascovan and Hans Colleugues in their vulnerable team, held to this story.

Although it is not demanding to be deadly, the lice -borne laid -back fever could significantly weaken an already exhausted individual, the researchers say.

Sally Wasef at Queensland University of Technology in Australia says the symptoms recorded in historical stories could match several infectious diseases suggested in the new study.

The microbial DNA that was recovered from the old individuals was in low quantities, says Wasef. “In my opinion, it means that the results are more suggestive than crucial.”

WASEF says that several soldiers who died in 1812 must be studied to conference what diseases were present when Rascovan and his colleagues also say in their study.

The research highlights the potential for new tools to identify possible infectious agents in the historical population, says Wasef. She wants to see the method used to study diseases of the population after contact in America or Australia.

“This kind of work has a strong potential to clarify the disease as a disease in previous population falls, especially where author registers are incomplete or partial,” says Wasef.