Nature Podcast9 Jul 2025

Ancient DNA reveals farming led to more human diseases

00:48 The past 35,000 years of disease

Ancient DNA evidence shows that the advent of agriculture led to more infectious disease among humans, with pathogens from animals only showing up 6,500 years ago. The DNA, extracted from human teeth, shows the history of diseases present in Eurasia over tens of thousands of years. The approach used could be a powerful way to understand how illness has shaped humanity, but it is unable to detect some bacteria that enter the bloodstream at low concentrations or some viruses, so future work could seek to fill that gap.

Research Article: Sikora et al.

News: Animal diseases leapt to humans when we started keeping livestock

10:58 Research Highlights

DNA studies confirm that sardines were a major ingredient of the Roman Empire’s favourite fish sauce, and how analysis of animal manure identified global hotspots for antibiotic-resistance genes.

Research Highlight: Ancient DNA helps trace stinky Roman fish sauce to its source

Research Highlight: Poo of farm animals teems with drug-resistance genes

13:17 Using whale poo to study toxic algae in the Arctic

A 19-year experiment sampling bowhead whale faeces reveals a link between warming Arctic waters and increasing levels of toxic algae, researchers say. While climate change is expected to drive increases in the prevalence of harmful algal blooms, long-term data is lacking. To address this, a team worked with indigenous communities to collect and sample whale poo, showing that increases in algal toxins in the Arctic food chain are linked to rising ocean temperatures. The researchers suggest levels of these toxins need to be closely monitored to protect Arctic communities that depend on marine resources for food.

Research Article: Lefebvre et al.

24:06 Briefing Chat

An object from beyond our solar system has been spotted zipping past Jupiter, and evidence that Neanderthals created ‘fat factories’ to extract vital nutrients from animal bones.

Nature: Neanderthals boiled bones in ‘fat factories’ to enrich their lean diet

Nature: Rare find: interstellar visitor seen blazing through our Solar System

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