Ancient oncogenesis, infection and human evolution

Abstract

The recent discovery that malignant neoplastic lesions date back nearly 2 million years ago not only highlights the antiquity of cancer in the human lineage, but also provides remarkable insight into ancestral hominin disease pathology. Using these Early Pleistocene examples as a point of departure, we emphasize the prominent role of viral and bacterial pathogens in oncogenesis and evaluate the impact of pathogens on human evolutionary processes in Africa. In the Shakespearean vernacular “what's past is prologue,” we highlight the significance of novel information derived from ancient pathogenic DNA. In particular, and given the temporal depth of human occupation in sub‐Saharan Africa, it is emphasized that the region is ideally positioned to play a strategic role in the discovery of ancient pathogenic drivers of not only human mortality, but also human evolution. Ancient African pathogen genome data can provide novel revelations concerning human‐pathogen coevolutionary processes, and such knowledge is essential for forecasting the ways in which emerging zoonotic and increasingly transmissible diseases might influence human demography and longevity in the future.

The Exposome in Human Evolution: From Dust to Diesel

“…Bone cancer was reported for several Australopithecus species and early Homo (Rifkin et al 2017), but was not mentioned by Trinkaus (2018). Bone cancers are rare in the fossil record until the Bronze Age (Nerlich et al 2006;Lieverse et al 2014).…”

The Revival of the Battle between David and Goliath in the Enteric Viruses and Microbiota Struggle: Potential Implication for Celiac Disease

“…Since genetic, inter-generation, eukaryotic vertical changes are long-term events and the environment is changing constantly, intra generationally and epigenetical environmental changes may play the major role in disease development [2]. A major environmental factor that exerts a driving force on human health are prokaryotes [3,4,5,6]. It appears that the human enteric compartment is an ideal niche for the coevolution of numerous prokaryotes cohabiting eukaryotic guts in a bi-directional symbiotic environment.…”

The prevalence of cancer in Britain before industrialization

“…Cancers may be triggered by carcinogenic compounds, infectious microorganisms (such as viruses, bacteria, and parasites), environmental sources of radiation, as well as random gene mutations. [3][4][5][6][7] Cancers are also more common in people with predisposing oncogenes in their genome. 8,9 Although the impact of some of these factors can be estimated by comparing cancer risk in groups who have been exposed to a particular agent with those who have not (eg, smokers), this is not always an easy task (eg, when we consider the effects of passive smoking).…”