Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41481721›Full record

ArticleScience advances2026

Tracing 2500 years of human betaherpesvirus 6A and 6B diversity through ancient DNA.

Meriam Guellil, Lucy van Dorp, Lehti Saag, Owyn Beneker, Biancamaria Bonucci, Stefania Sasso, Tina Saupe, Anu Solnik, Helja Kabral, Raili Allmäe and 21 more

Abstract readHistorical Article
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Science advances, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

31 authors.

Meriam GuellilDepartment for Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.ORCID 0000-0002-7235-4604
Lucy van DorpUCL Genetics Institute, Department of Genetics Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-6211-2310
Lehti SaagEstonian Biocentre, Institute of Genomics, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia.ORCID 0000-0002-2274-8138
Owyn BenekerDepartment of Human Genetics, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.ORCID 0000-0003-3553-1672
Biancamaria BonucciEstonian Biocentre, Institute of Genomics, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia.ORCID 0009-0001-3292-3446
Stefania SassoEstonian Biocentre, Institute of Genomics, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia.ORCID 0009-0008-1090-5731
Tina SaupeEstonian Biocentre, Institute of Genomics, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia.ORCID 0000-0003-1489-9646
Anu SolnikCore Facility, Institute of Genomics, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia.ORCID 0009-0009-5615-5726
Helja KabralEstonian Biocentre, Institute of Genomics, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia.ORCID 0009-0003-6068-0650
Raili AllmäeIndependent Researcher, Kooli 55, Rae vald, Harjumaa 75321, Estonia.ORCID 0000-0001-6303-947X
Jessica BatesDepartment of Archaeology, University of York, York, UK.
Jenna M DittmarBiomedical Affairs, Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine, Monroe, LA, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-3514-1869
Xiangyu Jack GeOpen Targets Genetics, Wellcome Genome Campus, Wellcome Sanger Institute, Hinxton, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-5048-8081
Sarah InskipMcDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-7424-2094
Tõnno JonuksEstonian Literary Museum, Tartu, Estonia.ORCID 0000-0001-8980-5128
Victor N KarmanovInstitute of Language, Literature and History, Komi Science Centre of Ural Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Syktyvkar, Russia.ORCID 0000-0002-5091-501X
Valeri I KhartanovichPeter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera) of Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia.ORCID 0000-0002-5533-0686
Maarten H D LarmuseauDepartment of Human Genetics, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.ORCID 0000-0002-5974-7235
Serena AneliDepartment of Public Health Sciences and Pediatrics, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.ORCID 0000-0003-4303-2507
Craig CessfordMcDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-7291-7828
Aivar KriiskaInstitute of History and Archaeology, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia.ORCID 0000-0002-0900-7626
Marika MägiFoundation Osiliana, Tallinn University, Tallinn, Estonia.ORCID 0009-0005-7519-4342
Martin MalveEstonian Biocentre, Institute of Genomics, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia.
Natasja De WinterArchaeological Bureau, Bilzen, Belgium.
Mait MetspaluEstonian Biocentre, Institute of Genomics, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia.ORCID 0000-0003-3099-9161
Luca PaganiDepartment of Biology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.ORCID 0000-0002-6639-524X
John E RobbDepartment of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Toomas KivisildEstonian Biocentre, Institute of Genomics, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia.ORCID 0000-0002-6297-7808
Charlotte J HouldcroftDepartment of Genetics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-1833-5285
Christiana L ScheibDepartment of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-4158-8296
Kristiina TambetsEstonian Biocentre, Institute of Genomics, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia.ORCID 0000-0002-8173-6380

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Human betaherpesviruses 6A and 6B (HHV-6A/6B) are DNA viruses, which integrate into the human genome, and are best known to cause "sixth disease." Despite their recent discovery (1980s), they were speculated to have a much longer history within the human population than modern data suggest. We present the first 11 ancient genomes of HHV-6A and HHV-6B, dating as far back as the 8th to 6th century BCE. We demonstrate that large fractions of current HHV-6 diversity were already established by the 14th century CE. Our data corroborate that HHV-6A/6B integrations stem from ancient founder events. In addition, we show that all known inherited chromosomally integrated HHV-6A clades were already represented in historical populations, confirming that HHV-6A no longer integrates into the germ line within populations of European ancestry and likely endogenized in early human history.

Indexed as

DNA, AncientDNA, ViralGenetic VariationHerpesvirus 6, HumanGenome, HumanGenome, ViralHumansPhylogenyRoseolovirus InfectionsDNA, AncientDNA, Viral

Identifiers

PMID41481721
PMCPMC12758547

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.