Germs, genomes, and global history in the time of Covid-19

Bibliographic Data

ID12876346
AuthorsK Harper (0000-0001-9313-0725, University of Oklahoma, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume15
Issue3
Pages350-362
Publication date2020-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Global History (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1740-0228 • E-ISSN: 1740-0236
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s1740022820000273
OpenAlexW3095795624
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited1

The COVID-19 pandemic presents opportunities and challenges for historians working on the global history of health and disease. This article argues that the history of disease will benefit from interdisciplinary work that brings together historians, microbiologists, and archaeologists. Genomes are historical archives, in two complementary ways. Palaeogenomics provide direct access to genomes of the past, while phylogenetics furnish historical insight from evolutionary relationships. Both palaeogenomics and phylogenetics have already contributed enormously to the history of disease, helping us understand how human ecological transformation drives the evolution of our microparasites

2019-20 coronavirus outbreak · Ancient history · Biology · Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 · Disease · Environmental ethics · Evolutionary biology · Gene · Genealogy · Genome · Geography · Infectious disease (medical specialty · Pandemic · Phylogenetics · Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2 · Work (physics · World history · Engineering · History · Medicine · Philosophy · Race, Genetics, and Society · Yersinia bacterium, plague, ectoparasites research · Zoonotic diseases and public health · Genetics · Virology