By Linda Gedde Napoleon’s march on Moscow remains one of history’s most catastrophic military retreats. As his army withdrew, tens of thousands perished. But what killed them? There was hunger and cold, but also a mysterious illness that was long thought to be typhus. Now, more than two centuries later, DNA from the soldiers’ teeth is rewriting that history, suggesting the answer instead could be bacteria that cause enteric and relapsing fevers. “It’s very exciting to use a technology we have today, to detect and diagnose something that was buried for…
Read MoreDNA reveals the real killers that brought down Napoleon’s army
