Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
STEM
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
STEM

Student Discovers Tuberculosis DNA in Dental Plaque of Smithsonian’s Anatomical Collection

Wednesday, August 16, 2017, By Kathleen Haley
Share
College of Arts and SciencesRenée Crown University Honors ProgramresearchSTEMStudents
woman working in lab

Soleil Young ’17 conducted research this summer in an Ancient DNA lab at Arizona State to do more work on her capstone.

In a collection of historic skeletal remains at the Smithsonian, microscopic signs of a serious contagion lurk in an intriguing place in a sample of individuals from 100 years ago.

Student researcher Soleil Young ’17, a member of the Renée Crown University Honors Program, discovered tuberculosis DNA in the tartar on the teeth of individuals in a collection specifically for biological research in the Smithsonian’s Division of Physical Anthropology.

DNA of the bacterial disease had never been isolated from teeth plaque—until now.

Young’s research was for her honors capstone project: “Please Forget to Floss: Developing an Assay for Identifying Tuberculosis in Dental Calculus from the Smithsonian’s Huntington Collection (1893-1921).”

Her research topic developed as a way to combine her background and interests in anthropology and biology.

Soleil Young_0600

Soleil Young

“Dr. [Shannon] Novak suggested ancient DNA (aDNA) as a potential project, as she knew my love of bacteria and background in molecular biology,” says Young, who graduated with bachelor’s degrees from the College of Arts and Sciences and the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. “We kind of just stumbled onto tuberculosis, as it was one of the few things we could work on without concerns of serious modern contamination. Since it had never been isolated from ancient dental calculus before, Dr. Novak suggested we try.”

Young was able to work with a graduate student in Novak’s lab, Alanna Warner-Smith, who is studying the Huntington Collection for her dissertation. The skeletal collection assembled by Dr. George Sumner Huntington is composed of individuals who died in New York City between 1893 and 1921.

“Because Alanna had already surveyed the collection, we had information on which individuals had calculus and their causes of death, allowing us to refine our sampling request,” Young says.

After submitting a sampling request to the Smithsonian, Young and Warner-Smith traveled to Washington, D.C.

“We spent about a day in the collections scraping the teeth of six individuals,” Young says. “The spaces where they house the collections are huge. I don’t think I’d ever seen so many cabinets in my life.”

The work involved trying to “isolate and amplify a species-specific genetic insert in the M. tuberculosis genome, the IS6110 sequence,” Young says. “We were able to do this successfully in several samples, and are currently working on getting these results ready for publication.”

In a synopsis of her work, Young notes that it is difficult to track the course of tuberculosis through history due a lack of changes in the skeleton from the disease. A new way to examine for the disease is through ancient DNA, but drilling and sectioning bone to isolate the aDNA can be costly and too invasive.

Her research sought to find new ways to track and understand tuberculosis in the past through DNA present in calcified plaque—and possibly see its progression over its history to better understand it and help in combating the disease in today’s world.

Her paper reports “the first-ever successful isolation of tuberculosis aDNA from the dental calculus of 13 individuals from the Smithsonian’s Huntington Collection (1893-1921).”

Young found tuberculosis in the aDNA of six individuals, including four Irish immigrants. “Two of the Irish immigrants had no other indicators of tuberculosis, either skeletal or archival, and their identification as tubercular enriches our understandings of their lives, illustrating the fruitfulness of this technique,” Young stated in her synopsis.

woman working in lab

Soleil Young ’17 conducted research this summer in an Ancient DNA lab at Arizona State.

Young describes as “amazing” the experience of working with the Smithsonian’s collection.

“It’s such an old and well-respected institution, and it was cool not only to get to work with samples from the institution, but also to get to see what goes on behind the scenes and meet the curators and researchers working there,” says Young, a University Scholar, Remembrance Scholar and College of Arts and Sciences Class Marshal.

While working on her capstone and other projects at Syracuse, Young appreciated her advisors, Associate Professor Shannon Novak and Associate Professor Anthony Garza, who she had worked with separately on different projects, and Professor Roy Welch, from whom she sought advice and assistance.

“I actually think one of the best parts of the capstone process is getting to form close relationships with faculty mentors, and really learn from them,” Young says. “I could not have been luckier with my mentors.”

Young’s efforts were recognized at the Honors Convocation in May when she was honored with the top award for social sciences—and the Orlin Prize, the top prize overall. She was grateful that others thought her work was a good project and that her hard work and the work of others who had helped her was also recognized.

“It was exciting and surprising when they called my name for the social sciences division, and even more surprising and exciting when they called it for the grand prize,” Young says.

Following graduation, Young worked with Professor Anne Stone at Arizona State University, continuing on her capstone research.

“I am now at the National Museum of Health and Medicine [in Maryland] as a volunteer in their collections for the next two months,” Young says. “I’m going to be returning to Syracuse University in the fall, and doing research in the lab of Dr. Welch during my gap year while I apply to graduate programs in evolutionary biology.”

  • Author

Kathleen Haley

  • Recent
  • Graduate Students Bring Physics to Local Classrooms With Outreach Program
    Friday, May 27, 2022, By Dan Bernardi
  • COVID-19 Update: Effective Wednesday, June 1, Masking Level Returns to Yellow
    Friday, May 27, 2022, By News Staff
  • Preparing Students for a Life of Success
    Friday, May 27, 2022, By Caroline K. Reff
  • Alumni Draw on Their Military Experience in Their Roles as Teachers
    Thursday, May 26, 2022, By Martin Walls
  • Bringing ‘CSI’ Into the Classroom
    Thursday, May 26, 2022, By Dan Bernardi

More In STEM

Graduate Students Bring Physics to Local Classrooms With Outreach Program

“When am I ever going to use this in real life?” That is the oft-heard refrain from middle- and high-school science students, struggling through labs and formulas that feel as far removed from their day-to-day as, well, space travel. Sarthak…

Bringing ‘CSI’ Into the Classroom

Dusting for fingerprints, documenting blood stain patterns and measuring bullet trajectory—you might think this is a description of a recent episode from the popular television series “CSI.” While this may be true, these are also the daily lessons students are…

Matt Cufari Named as a 2022-23 Astronaut Scholar

Matt Cufari, a senior physics major in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S), a computer science major in the College of Engineering and Computer Science, a Coronat Scholar and a member of the Renée Crown University Honors Program, has…

Dean Rajiv ‘Raj’ Dewan to Step Down as Dean of the School of Information Studies

Rajiv “Raj” Dewan, dean of the School of Information Studies, has announced he will conclude his deanship on June 30, 2022. Dewan plans to return to full-time faculty duties while continuing his research. David Seaman, dean of Syracuse University Libraries…

Biology and Earth and Environmental Sciences Departments Come Together on Diversity and Engagement Initiatives

In 1948, Professor James Hope Birnie became Syracuse University’s first African American faculty member in biology, teaching here until 1951. He was also one of its first biology faculty members to be supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH)….

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2022 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.