New research on Science It suggests genetic changes Yersinia Pestis, The bacteria that cause the plague could have been added to the length of two plague pandemics, including the pandemic that began with “black death.”
“We are one of the first studies to directly examine changes in ancient pathogens, which we can still see today to understand what drives the toxicity, persistence and ultimate extinction of the pandemic. press release.
The study suggests that fewer toxic plague bacteria may have caused a longer plague pandemic thanks to the fact that infected rodents lived for a long time before dying from the infection (and spreading the plague).
read more: Scientists reveal the story of the origins of Black Death
Three Plague Pandemics
Bacteria Y. Pestis It infects rodents and humans alike, causing three major plague pandemics in humans, all of which have been going on for centuries after the first outbreak. It first began in the 500s. The second began in the 1300s. And the third began in the 1800s (and still continues in certain parts of Asia, Africa and America today).
All three pandemics were devastating in the first place, while the second was the most severe. The early explosion, the Black Death, killed about 30-50% of the European population between 1347 and 1352, representing the most deadly disease wave in recorded history to this day.
For more information on how these epidemic pandemics have changed over time, see scientists at McMaster University in Canada and Pasteur, a research institute in France. Y. Pestis A pathogenic gene known as PLA. This gene is repeated over and over again Y. Pestis The genome, and thus the bacteria can spread undetectable throughout the body of an infected individual.
read more: These four pandemics have changed courses of human history
Genes and plague
To investigate this gene, scientists studied historical strains of Y. Pestis From human remains, we found that the number of repetitive PLAs decreases during the course of the first and second epidemic pandemic. The scientists then tested it Y. Pestis Bacteria from the third pandemic were infected with mice, mice infected with three strains with reduced repeats of PLA.
“These three samples allowed us to analyze the biological effects of these PLA gene deletions,” another study author, Yersinia According to the release, the Institut Pasteur research unit.
Results revealed that depletion of PLA reduces toxicity and increases the length of plague infection in mice. According to the study authors, these changes could lead to rodents living longer in the late stages of the first and second pandemics, allowing infection to spread longer.
“It is important to remember that the plague is a rat epidemic, which was the driver of the epidemic and pandemic. Humans were casualties.” Poiner was added to another. press release.
read more: Bubonic plague and these four other diseases are surprisingly still present today
Continuous threats of Y. Pestis
The depletion of PLA occurred about 100 years after the start of the first and second pandemics, but scientists have emphasized that both changes are random and irrelevant.
“Our research sheds light on interesting patterns in the evolutionary history of the plague, but it is important to note that most of the strains that continue to circulate today in Africa, America and Asia are highly toxic,” a student at McMaster’s Ancient DNA Center.
It is still a threat to the current group, Y. Pestis Infectious diseases are now much easier to manage, as a result of modern diagnosis and treatment.
“The plague is a rare disease today, but it remains a public health concern and serves as a model for a broad understanding of how pandemics emerge and become extinct. This example illustrates the balance of toxins that pathogens can employ to spread effectively.”
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Sam Walters is a journalist covering evolution for archaeology, paleontology, ecology and discovery, and has an assortment of other topics. Before joining the Discover team as an assistant editor in 2022, Sam studied journalism at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.
