Skip to playerSkip to main content
  • 2 days ago
Transcript
00:00Scientists have finally figured out what killed Napoleon's army in the Battle of 1812.
00:04Back in 1812, Napoleon Bonaparte, ruler of most of Europe, launched an ambitious invasion
00:08of Russia with up to 600,000 troops.
00:11He believed he could conquer the world, but by October, the French army was in full retreat,
00:15decimated not just by the brutal winter and starvation, but a wave of deadly infectious
00:19diseases.
00:20For centuries, historians and scientists have debated what exactly killed so many of Napoleon's
00:25men.
00:26Typhus and trench fever were the usual suspects, but the evidence was murky.
00:29Early DNA studies lacked the resolution to confirm anything definitively.
00:32Now, thanks to cutting-edge ancient DNA sequencing, researchers at the Pasteur Institute have cracked
00:37open the mystery.
00:38Literally.
00:39They analyzed the teeth of 13 soldiers from Napoleon's army and found genetic traces of
00:43two pathogens, Salmonella enterica, which causes paratyphoid fever, and Borrelia recurrentis,
00:48a relapsing fever spread by lice.
00:51These diseases would have caused high fever, vomiting, and dehydration, devastating in the
00:55freezing, chaotic conditions of the retreat.
00:57Surprisingly, the researchers found no evidence of typhus or trench fever.
01:00Long thought to be the main culprit.
01:02Long thought to be the main culprit.
Be the first to comment
Add your comment

Recommended