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Ancient Fossils Reveal 2,200 Metabolites and Health Insights

1/6/2026

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Summary

Story summary

Scientists recovered metabolic molecules from fossilized bones dating up to three million years.
The study was led by Timothy Bromage of New York University College of Dentistry and used metabolomics on bones from Tanzania, Malawi, and South Africa.
Researchers identified over 2,200 metabolites, informing diet, health, and climate.
The findings, published in Nature, include evidence of sleeping sickness in a 1.8-million-year-old ground squirrel bone.

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Story summary

Scientists recovered metabolic molecules from fossilized bones dating up to three million years.
The study was led by Timothy Bromage of New York University College of Dentistry and used metabolomics on bones from Tanzania, Malawi, and South Africa.
Researchers identified over 2,200 metabolites, informing diet, health, and climate.
The findings, published in Nature, include evidence of sleeping sickness in a 1.8-million-year-old ground squirrel bone.