A BRANCH of mathematics used by code-breakers could help to solve a 500-year-old mysterywhether syphilis was brought to Europe by Christopher Columbus's crew. Syphilis appeared in Naples soon after Columbus returned from the New World. Scientists have speculated that some of his sailors were infected in America with
A group of 3000-year-old Chilean mummies held a tantalising clue suggesting that syphilis had been present in the Americas for centuries before Columbus arrived. Some of the bodies had unusual bony growths on their shins and skulls similar to deformities seen in advanced syphilis.
Peter Rogan, a geneticist at Allegheny University of the Health Sciences in Pittsburgh, told the AAAS that ...
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