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Other critical research uncovered the mirror-image DNA among the parasite that causes Chagas’ disease, which can cause irreversible damage to the heart and digestive organs if left untreated.

This is the first experimental evidence that this gene is involved with Chagas disease, Hünemeier says.

But three genes stood out: PPP3CA and DYNC1I1, which are associated with an immune response against Trypanosoma cruzi, the protozoan that causes Chagas disease; and NOS1AP, which is a gene that affects how the body reacts to mosquito bites.

That suggests, the researchers report today in Science Advances, that these gene variants likely evolved to protect Amazonian populations against Chagas disease.

Now, a new study of Indigenous peoples from the Amazon rainforest reveals one more such adaptation: a genetic resistance to the endemic parasite responsible for deadly Chagas disease.