An Oxford boffin has helped scientists to finally work out why northern Europeans are more susceptible to multiple sclerosis (MS).

New findings by Professor Lars Fugger and other academics show the MS gene was actually an advantage in ancient times.

It would stop farmers from catching infectious diseases from their sheep and cattle, the consultant physician at John Radcliffe Hospital claims.

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His study found MS genes were brought to north-western Europe around 5,000 years ago by sheep and cattle herders migrating from the east.

According to researchers, northern Europe now has the world’s highest prevalence of MS, a condition that can affect the brain and spinal cord.

“This means we can now understand and seek to treat MS for what it actually is: the result of a genetic adaptation to certain environmental conditions that occurred back in our prehistory,” said Professor Fugger, co-author of the paper.

His secret to this ground-breaking discovery is ancient DNA.

Researchers have analysed the bones and teeth of almost 5,000 humans who lived across western Europe and Asia up to 34,000 years ago.

They have created the world’s largest ancient human gene bank.

By comparing ancient human DNA to modern-day samples, the experts mapped the historical spread of genes – and diseases – over time as populations migrated.

Oxford Mail: The John Radcliffe Hospital where Professor Lars Fugger is a consultant physician The John Radcliffe Hospital where Professor Lars Fugger is a consultant physician (Image: Oxford Mail)

The results are published in four research papers published in the journal Nature and provide new biological understanding of debilitating disorders.

Scientists traced the geographical spread of MS from its origins on the Pontic Steppe, a region spanning parts of what are now Ukraine, south-west Russia and the West Kazakhstan region.

They found that the genetic variants associated with a risk of developing MS “travelled” with the Yamnaya people – livestock herders who migrated over the Pontic Steppe into north-western Europe.

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One of the other papers shines a light on possible reasons for high Alzheimer and type 2 diabetes rates in eastern Europe.

Genes known to increase the risk of these conditions were also traced back to hunter gatherers.

Another paper looks at why northern Europeans are taller than their counterparts in the hotter south of the continent.

According to the research, a genetic predisposition to being tall is likely to also have come from the Yamnaya people.

Researchers hope future analysis will reveal more about the genetic markers of autism, ADHD, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression.

They compared ancient DNA data from 1,664 archaeological skeletons with modern DNA from 400,000 people living in Britain, held in the UK Biobank.

The oldest genome in the data set is from an individual who lived around 34,000 years ago.