Sign up to The Irish Times Archive (1859 - 2008)My Account »

RESEARCHERS have a new ally in tracing the migration routes followed by early humans – a common stomach bacterium. It helps explain how groups were related as our ancient ancestors spread steadily across the globe.

Discovering the routes taken by early humans, who left Africa tens of thousands of years ago, is a difficult process. Now the bacterium Helicobacter pylori is helping to confirm theories and garner new insights, according to Mark Achtman, professor of microbiology at University College Cork, formerly of the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Berlin. Achtman is also a Science Foundation Ireland principal investigator.The latest discovery, published only last week, explains how Australia and many of the Pacific islands were settled by migrating populations.