Christina Warriner has made a name for herself by examining really, really old teeth. The University of Oklahoma researcher and assistant professor of anthropology’s work in ancient DNA and what it reveals about the diets of early humans is seen as revolutionary. It’s such a breakthrough that Warriner was named in Science News’ 2017 top 10 scientists under age 40.

Teeth are one of the most well-preserved parts of a decaying body, and scientists have used them before to study facts about early civilizations. What Warriner and a team of researchers looked at, though, was something called dental calculus, or plaque. Dental calculus, it turns out, contains much more than researchers first assumed. The proteins and DNA found within it can be used to determine what an early human or related species has eaten, its regular diet that held clues to its digestion and immune system.

“Suddenly, we could study how this changes over time,” Warriner said.

And though the samples are very old, they might hold the clue to solving modern problems. For instance, periodontal disease is a big problem in humans today. It is characterized by the chronic swelling of gums and eventually leads to a breakdown of bone tissue.

“We don’t quite understand what’s driving it,” she said. “There still is no cure. We can slow it down but not reverse it. It seems to involve a hyper-immune response to bacteria in the oral cavity.”

If researchers can identify a change in the evolutionary process of the oral microbiome — perhaps something related to diet — then it might hold the answer to improved dental health. If there is bacteria or a certain protein humans are missing today, it might be possible to replace or replicate what kept periodontal disease at bay in ancient ancestors.

This is important because there’s something going on with our stomachs. Bacteria that used to exist and help in the breakdown of nutrition are disappearing or even extinct. These changes are more recent than the ones found in the oral microbiome, Warriner said.

“Industrialized populations have a reduced amount of diversity than, say, the hunter-gatherers,” she said. “We know in clinical cases that reductions in the gut microbiome lead to intestinal diseases, gastrointestinal problems. One of the ways we can address this is by going back and studying paleo feces and seeing where that change occurred.”

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