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Dentistry
'Ancestral eve' was mother of all tooth decay
April 10th, 2007
A New York University College of Dentistry (NYUCD) research team has found the first oral bacterial evidence supporting the dispersal of modern Homo sapiens out of Africa to Asia. The team, led by Page Caufield, a professor of cariology and comprehensive care at NYUCD, discovered that Streptoccocus mutans, a bacterium associated with dental caries, has evolved along with its human hosts in a clear line that can be traced back to a single common ancestor who lived in Africa between 100,000 and 200,000 years ago. S. mutans is transmitted from mothers to infants, and first appears in an infant’s mouth at about two years of age. Caufield’s findings are...
Source: Life Science Weekly (2007-04-10)
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