{
  "id": 5174031,
  "title": "Hidden DNA in medieval gospels reveals history of deadly livestock virus",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/02/hidden-dna-in-medieval-gospels-reveals-history-of-deadly-livestock",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-09-02T21:20:02.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Phys.org",
    "slug": "phys-org",
    "url": "https://phys.org/news/2026-09-hidden-dna-medieval-gospels-reveals.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The DNA of the sheeppox virus, a highly contagious and deadly disease impacting sheep, has been discovered in medieval manuscripts, including significant historical texts like the York Gospels. This revelation sheds light on the disease's lasting impact on European agriculture. The research, led by University College Dublin, analyzed parchment used in these ancient documents, revealing that parchment can preserve animal pathogen DNA. The study, published in Science Advances, uncovered traces of sheeppox virus in medieval manuscripts dating back 3,500 years, indicating that the disease has plagued Eurasian sheep herds for millennia. The parchment used to create these manuscripts was often made from the hides of sheep, goats, and cattle, serving as a unique bioarchive that records the health of the animals at the time of their death. The findings suggest that infected animals were used in the production of these historical texts, and multiple pages from the same manuscript were found to contain sheeppox virus DNA. The discovery underscores the unexpected ways in which parchments preserve cultural history and the landscape of animal disease in the medieval period.",
  "summary": "Some of Europe's most well-known historic manuscripts, including the York Gospels, have proven to be biological time capsules for uncovering the 3,500-year history of the sheeppox virus (SPPV).",
  "key_points": [
    "Sheeppox virus DNA found in medieval manuscripts",
    "York Gospels and other historical texts contain virus DNA",
    "Disease affected Eurasian sheep herds for 3,500 years"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}