2023-05-30 03:00:06
Find the first traces of a romantic kiss, lips to lips, in the history of mankind. This is the mission chosen by two Danish researchers, biologist Sophie Lund Rasmussen from the University of Oxford, and Assyriologist Troels Pank Arboll with the University of Copenhagen, detailed in an article published in Science on May 18. They found those traces in cuneiform texts dating back 4,500 years, originating in Mesopotamia, an ancient region corresponding to present-day Iraq and Syria.
In July 2022, the publication of an article on the evolution of the Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) in the Science Advances journal was the starting point of their quest. The team of paleogenetic researchers, studying ancient DNA, from Cambridge University suggested a possible link between the introduction of kissing – involving the exchange of saliva – and the spread of the HSV-1 virus.
According to this study, the modern strain of the virus that causes cold sores emerged 5,000 years ago. Today, around 67% of people under 50 are carriers of the herpes virus in its HSV-1 form, according to the World Health Organization.
A steady path of transmission
For Rasmussen and Arboll, romantic kissing far predates the modern strain of herpes, making it unlikely that this practice has played a role in the virus’ widespread distribution over the last 5,000 years. “Chimpanzees and bonobos also kiss romantically and erotically,” Sophie Lund Rasmussen told The world. “Since we are all hominids and these primates also practice kissing, this might indicate that this is a very ancient behavior, much more so than the documentation we have found.”
To support the hypothesis of the steady influence of kissing on disease transmission, and to refute the idea that this practice was a factor in sudden contamination, the biologist listed paleogenetic studies proving the existence since prehistoric times of orally-transmitted viruses, such as herpes HSV-1 or the Epstein-Barr virus, also from the Herpesviridae family and the agent in infectious mononucleosis, sometimes called the “kissing disease.” “I wanted to find traces of these ‘kissing-transmissible’ pathogens in ancient times. Because if they’ve always existed, it’s likely that we’ve always kissed too,” Rasmussen added.
The “French kiss” is not the only potential contaminating factor, according to Philippe Charlier, forensic pathologist, anthropologist and director of the research department at the Musée du quai Branly, who was not involved in the study: “Intra-oral food preparation [pre-chewing for someone else] and oral sex are other practices that might be potential transmission routes for bacteria and viruses.”
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