Dr Piers Mitchell an orthopaedic surgeon and medical historian looks at which types of diseases Rivenhall women was likely to be carrying. Meanwhile Ms Abi Bouwman an biomolecular archaeologist is looking at new ways of detecting treponemal DNA in ancient bone.

Searching for Syphilis - for iPad/Mac/PC

Extracting DNA from ancient bone

At the end of the 15th century a terrifying new epidemic spread across Europe, but was this disease, known as the Great Pox, really Syphilis? Did Christopher Columbus actually bring the disease back from the New World? Join us as we look at whether the discovery of a 600 year old skeleton can shed new light on the origins of one of mankind's most enduring diseases, which still affects 12 million people every year. This material forms part of The Open University course S320 Infectious disease.

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Searching for Syphilis - for iPad/Mac/PC