90 year old corpse may hold the answer to bird flu

Feb 28 2007

Scientists in Britain believe a 90 year old corpse may hold the answer to the fight against bird flu.

They have gained permission for the body of Sir Mark Sykes, 6th Baronet and owner of historic Sledmere House in Yorkshire, to be exhumed.

Sir Mark died aged 39 in a Paris hotel in 1919 from the Spanish flu virus while at the Versailles Peace Conference with his wife; he was an advisor to the Government on the Middle East.

His body was returned to Britain and buried in a lead-lined coffin because the disease was so virulent; it ultimately killed an estimated 50 million people worldwide.

Scientists have been searching for a sample of the virus for some time and are hoping the preservative qualities of the metal coffin may mean samples of his DNA may still be available.

It is possible that Sir Mark's genetic material could uncover new information about the H1N1 virus which killed him; this information could be useful in the task of developing drugs to fight modern forms of the disease such as the H5N1 bird flu currently doing the rounds.

Professor John Oxford, the Professor of Virology at St Bartholomew's and the Royal London Hospital is leading the project, and is encouraged that DNA samples could provide answers to very important questions regarding bird flu.

To dig up Sir Mark's body from the church in the Sledmere estate, the researchers needed permission from all of his living relatives as well as relatives of his wife Lady Edith.

The contents of Lady Edith's coffin will not be disturbed, but permission was needed to move it to reach that of her husband.

In the interests of science the families agreed to the exhumation and a special court in York granted permission for the exhumation.