Bacteria scraped off Neanderthal teeth ‘could lead to wonder drugs’

ANCIENT bacterial DNA from the teeth of Neanderthals and prehistoric humans has been recreated by scientists and used to bring back Stone Age molecules.

The genome of a previously unknown Chlorobium bacteria dating back 100,000 years was revived using the calcified remains encased within tooth tartar.

A team of US and German researchers then spliced the sequence into living bacteria to see what would happen.

They found the ancient genes produced a never-before-seen family of natural molecules that have been named “paleofurans”.

Scientists are unsure what the molecules do, but said the process could help in the development of new antibiotics.

“This is the first step towards accessing the hidden chemical diversity of Earth’s past microbes, and it adds an exciting new time dimension to natural product discovery,” said Dr Martin Klapper, a researcher at the Leibniz Institute in Germany.

Bringing back ancient bacteria or molecules has proved controversial, with some experts believing that scientists should not be creating biological specimens that do not already exist in nature.

However, the researchers said that they could not be sure the Chlorobium species they had discovered was actually extinct. The closest modern relatives are harmless bacteria that usually live in lakes.

Biosafety experts said that even if the bacteria were revived, they looked unlikely to be dangerous.

The team reconstructed the genome of the Chlorobium bacterium on a computer before engineering living bacteria to produce the chemicals encoded by the ancient genes.

Antibiotic resistance has been described by the World Health Organisation as one of the biggest threats facing mankind.

The study was published in the journal Science.