title: Controlled fire use in early humans might have triggered the evolutionary emergence of tuberculosis.
abstract: Tuberculosis (TB) is caused by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC), a wildly successful group of organisms and the leading cause of death resulting from a single bacterial pathogen worldwide. It is generally accepted that MTBC established itself in human populations in Africa and that animal-infecting strains diverged from human strains. However, the precise causal factors of TB emergence remain unknown. Here, we propose that the advent of controlled fire use in early humans created the ideal conditions for the emergence of TB as a transmissible disease. This hypothesis is supported by mathematical modeling together with a synthesis of evidence from epidemiology, evolutionary genetics, and paleoanthropology.
authors.affiliation: School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia; Evolution & Ecology Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia;
authors.forename: Rebecca H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Chisholm
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne 3004, Australia;
authors.forename: James M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Trauer
authors.affiliation: Palaeontology, Geobiology and Earth Archives Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia.
authors.forename: Darren
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Curnoe
authors.affiliation: School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia; Evolution & Ecology Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia; m.tanaka@unsw.edu.au.
authors.forename: Mark M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Tanaka
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005390:Fires; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D011336:Probability; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000635:transmission*
keywords: cultural evolution; epidemiology; mathematical modeling; pathogen evolution; tuberculosis