Healthier prehistoric plaque

摘要

When humans turned to agriculture, and later to modern starch- and sugar-filled diets, the microbes colonizing their teeth changed drastically. Alan Cooper at the University of Adelaide, Australia, and his colleagues sequenced microbial DNA from the calcified dental plaque (pictured) of 34 mesolithic to medieval human skeletons. The oral microbial populations of individuals who lived in early farming communities were much less diverse than those of hunter-gatherers, and harboured more bacteria linked to diseases such as gingivitis.