Mummified Child Provides Clue to Hepatitis B Genetic Code

Wed, 05/30/2012 - 10:53am

Mummified Child Provides Clue to Hepatitis B Genetic Code

The discovery of a mummified Korean child with relatively preserved organs enabled an Israeli-South Korean scientific team to conduct a genetic analysis on a liver biopsy, which revealed a unique hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotype C2 sequence common in Southeast Asia.


The reconstruction of the ancient hepatitis B virus genetic code is the oldest full viral genome described in the scientific literature to date. It was reported in the May 21, 2012, edition of the scientific journal Hepatology by a research team from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Koret School of Veterinary Medicine, the Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment; the Hebrew University’s Faculty of Medicine, the Hadassah Medical Center’s Liver Unit; Dankook University and Seoul National University in South Korea.

Carbon 14 tests of the clothing of the mummy suggest that the boy lived around the 16th century during the Korean Joseon Dynasty. The viral DNA sequences recovered from the liver biopsy enabled the scientists to map the entire ancient hepatitis B viral genome.

Using modern-day molecular genetic techniques, the researchers compared the ancient DNA sequences with contemporary viral genomes, disclosing distinct differences. The changes in the genetic code are believed to result from spontaneous mutations and possibly environmental pressures during the virus evolutionary process. Based on the observed mutations rates over time, the analysis suggests that the reconstructed mummy’s hepatitis B virus DNA had its origin between 3,000 to 100,000 years ago.



Citation: “Tracing hepatitis B virus to the 16th century in a Korean mummy.” Kahila Bar-Gal G, Kim MJ, Klein A, Shin DH, Oh CS, Kim JW, Kim TH, Kim SB, Grant PR, Pappo O, Spigelman M, Shouval D. The Koret School of Veterinary Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, Israel. Hepatology. 2012 May 21. doi: 10.1002/hep.25852. [Epub ahead of print]


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