7th World Congress on Mummy Studies University of San Diego San ...

ABSTRACTS.–.Symposia
interaction. with. the. air,. its. prey. object,. and. itself,. and. equates. it.
symbolically. to. the. “pursuit”. of. the. non-believer. by. Christ..This.
mystical.description.nonetheless.evokes.the.dynamics.of.the.kestrel’s.
hovering. and. diving. with. both. denotative. and. connotative.
accuracy..Other.poets.express.the.behavior.of.birds.in.similar,.ecological.language.
Scientists,.ornithologists,.and.field.guide.writers.usually.avoid.
radical.forms.of.expression.that.might.push.their.descriptive.language.to.new.metaphoric.heights..Science.in.its.traditional.focus.
on.individual.subject-object.interactions.of.a.single.creature.misses.
an.opportunity.to.learn.and.borrow.from.poets..While.the.core.of.
scientific.description.often.relies.heavily.on.metaphor,.the.“As.if”.
explicit.and.implicit.in.scientific.discourse,.few.scientists.deliberately.venture.over.the.denotative,.abstract.language.line.to.employ.a.
poetic,.suggestive,.and.evocative.language.which.would.in.fact.lead.
to. more,. not. less. accurate. descriptions.. Both. science. and. poetry.
would.gain.from.it.
Human Leishmaniasis in Mummified
Remains: From Iconographical Sources
to Modern Day Techniques
Tuesday, starting at 8:00 a.m. in KIPJ Theatre
60 Introduction to Human Leishmaniasis in Mummified Remains:
From Iconographical Sources to Modern Day Techniques,
ANDREAS G. NERLICH 1 * and RAFFAELLA BIANUCCI 2,3,4
( 1 Academic. Teaching. Hospital. München-Bogenhausen,.
Englschalkingerstr.. 77,. D-81925. Munich,. Germany;. 2 Laboratory.
of. Criminalistic. Sciences,. Department. of. Anatomy,. Pharmacology.and.Legal.Medicine,.University.of.Turin,.Corso.Galileo.Galilei.22,.10126.Turin,.Italy;.
3 Biocultural.Anthropology.Unit,.UMR.
6578. CNRS-EFS,. Faculty. of. Medicine,. Secteur. Nord,. Batiment.
A-.CS80011,.University.of.Marseilles,.Boulevard.Pierre.Dramard,.
13344. Marseilles,. France;. 4 Division. of. Paleopathology,. History.
of.Medicine.and.Bioethics,.Department.of.Oncology,.Transplants.
and.Advanced.Technologies.in.Medicine,.University.of.Pisa,.Italy;.
andreas.nerlich@extern.lrz-muenchen.de)..
Parasitic.diseases.affected.mankind.since.antiquity..The.investigation.of.human.remains-.with.particular.emphasis.on.mummified.
tissues-.provides.us.with.an.encouraging.novel.source.to.evaluate.
origin.and.spread.of.those.diseases.
The. present. symposium. is. devoted. to. an. update. presentation. on.
the.history.of.human.leishmaniasis.and.related.parasitic.infections..
This. will. include. also. the. comparison. between. molecular. analysis.and.archaeological.disease.evidence,.such.as.from.literary.and.
iconographic.sources..
The. symposium. is. planned. to. start. with. an. overview. of. the.
current.microbiology.of.present.day.leishmaniasis.as.both.as.local.
and.systemic.disease.dependent.on.the.parasite.strain..Molecular.
investigations.on.modern.strains.will.provide.first.clues.as.to.the.
origin.and.potential.evolution.of.the.pathogens..
Subsequently. presentations. on. the. most. recent. findings. of.
Old.and.New.<strong>World</strong>.leishmaniasis.in.mummies.and.skeletonized.
human.remains.will.shed.light.on.the.distribution.and.strain.differences.during.antiquity..Particular.reference.will.be.made.to.the.“clinical”.consequence.of.the.occurring.disease,.including.cutaneous.(CL),.mucocutaneous.(MCL),.and.visceral.leishmaniasis.(VL).
for.infected.individuals.and.the.disease.impact.on.living.conditions..
74
Thereby,.we.aim.to.reconstruct.both.the.temporary.and.spatial.evolution.of.the.disease..As.a.further.important.issue,.the.significance.
of.analytical.techniques-.including.paleoserology.and.ancient.DNA.
technology-.will.be.presented.and.discussed.as.well.
In.summary,.the.symposium.may.add.a.though.specialized,.but.
circumstantial.view.on.a.disease.where.novel.analytical.techniques.
are.beginning.to.teach.us.much.about.biology,.pathology.and.live.
conditions.by.help.of.the.investigation.of.mummy.tissues.
61 Molecular Phylogeny, Taxonomy, and Evolution of Leishmania,
GABRIELE. SCHOENIAN (Institute. of. Microbiology. and.
Hygiene,. Charité. University. Medicine. Berlin,. Dorotheenstr.. 96,.
D-10117.Berlin,.Germany;.gabriele.schoenian@charite.de).
Leishmaniases. are. sand. fly-borne. diseases. caused. by. protozoan.parasites.of.the.genus.Leishmania.that.affect.people.in.vast.
areas.of.the.world..The.obligate.intracellular.parasites.are.known.
to.infect.humans.leading.to.different.forms.of.the.disease,.visceral.
(VL),.cutaneous.(CL).and.muco-cutaneous.(MCL).leishmaniasis.in.
88.countries.of.the.Old.New.<strong>World</strong>s..
The. current. classification. system. of. the. genus. Leishmania.
based.on.multilocus.enzyme.electrophoresis.proposes.up.to.35.species..Molecular.phylogenies.of.Leishmania.have,.however.increasingly.
suggested. that. the. number. of. species. may. be. too. large..A.
revision. of. Leishmania. classification. leading. to. its. simplification.
without.losing.the.detailed.knowledge.built.up.so.far.is.therefore.
now.under.discussion..Whether.the.genus.appeared.first.in.the.Old.
<strong>World</strong>.or.in.the.New.<strong>World</strong>.is.still.controversial.although.several.
rooted.sequenced-based.phylogenies.favour.a.neotropical.origin..
Many.molecular.markers,.most.recently.multilocus.microsatellite.typing,.have.demonstrated.substantial.intra-species.diversity.and.the.existence.of.geographically.and.genetically.isolated.populations.in.all.Leishmania
species.tested.so.far..Microsatellite.analysis.
reevaled.that.the.agent.of.visceral.leishmaniasis.in.the.New.<strong>World</strong>.
has. recently. been. imported. from. southwest. Europe. to. south. and.
Central.America.
A.predominantly.clonal.evolution.has.been.proposed.for.Leishmania.with.rare.sexual.recombination.events..This.hypothesis.has.repeatedly.been.challenged.by.the.detection.of.hybrids,.mosaic.genotypes,.and.gene.flow.between.populations,.strong.inbreeding.and,.
finally,.the.detection.of.recombination.under.laboratory.conditions.
62 The Unresolved Origins of Leishmaniasis: a Phylogenetic Perspective,.
KELLy M. HARKINS. (Center. for. Bioarchaeological.
Research,.School.of.Human.Evolution.of.Social.Change,.Arizona.
State.University,.Tempe,.AZ,.85287;.kelly.harkins@asu.edu)..
Understanding.disease.in.the.past,.including.host-parasite.evolution,.relies.on.the.use.of.many.lines.of.evidence,.none.of.which.are.without.limitations..The.incongruence.of.molecular.and.hostbased.phylogenies.has.stirred.debate.regarding.the.origins.and.dispersal.of.the.parasite.Leishmania.and.the.resulting.human.disease,.
leishmaniasis..Despite.advancements.in.molecular.techniques.and.
sequence.availability,.evolutionary.relationships.within.the.genus.
Leishmania. remain. poorly. resolved.. Here,. maximum. likelihood,.
maximum.parsimony.and.Bayesian.analyses.are.used.to.highlight.
the.shortcomings.of.these.methods.when.applied.to.multiple.gene.
sequences.within.Leishmania..Additional.genomic.data,.as.well.as.
new.sequences.isolated.from.ancient.remains.may.help.resolve.the.
debate;.however,.the.“true”.phylogenetic.tree.is.yet.to.be.found.