Caravaggio famously painted various biblical scenes, such as the beheadings of John the Baptist, Holofernes and Goliath. Though the artist did not meet such a violent demise in the early 17th century, he may have suffered an unpleasant one: Sepsis due to Staphylococcus aureus.
Staphylococcus aureus
Do our genes influence whether or not we get a Staph infection? It looks like they do. A new study shows that, if your sibling had a Staph infection, you are twice as likely to get one yourself - suggesting that our genes, in addition to other factors, determine how susceptible we are to certain infections.