Hidden DNA in medieval gospels reveals history of deadly livestock virus
๐ Reality-Breaking

โResearchers discovered that medieval manuscripts like the York Gospels act as biological time capsules, preserving 3,500-year-old DNA of the sheeppox virus. This finding allows scientists to trace the long-term history of the deadly livestock disease.โ
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Research pushes boundaries in ways that can seem bizarre but ultimately expand human knowledge. The moderate weirdness score suggests this is unusual but not completely unprecedented.
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