Article
On the origin of leprosy.
Science (New York, N.Y.) - 13 May 2005
Monot Marc, Honoré Nadine, Garnier Thierry, Araoz Romulo, Coppée Jean-Yves, Lacroix Céline, Sow Samba, Spencer John S, Truman Richard W, Williams Diana L, Gelber Robert, Virmond Marcos, Flageul Béatrice, Cho Sang-Nae, Ji Baohong, Paniz-Mondolfi Alberto, Convit Jacinto, Young Saroj, Fine Paul E, Rasolofo Voahangy, Brennan Patrick J, Cole Stewart T
Abstract excerpt
Leprosy, a chronic human disease with potentially debilitating neurological consequences, results from infection with Mycobacterium leprae. This unculturable pathogen has undergone extensive reductive evolution, with half of its genome now occupied by pseudogenes. Using comparative genomics, we demonstrated that all extant cases of leprosy are attributable to a single clone whose dissemination worldwide can be...
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