Researchers have come to the conclusion that the bacteria causing the Black Death looks a lot like the modern versions of the bug. They discovered this by taking what is now black, powdery pulp to reconstruct the genetic blueprint of the bacterium. They coined the phrase ‘grandmother of modern plague because all modern, human-infecting strains looks to have appeared to have separated from a common ancestor. Researchers say this behavior was a result of Europeans already being in hard times, living in a wet period and probably already struggling with other diseases.
Analyzing this ancient DNA is not an easy task, say researchers. Not only is it present in tiny fragments, but sequences has degraded. The samples also may include things living in the graves surrounding dirt. To decode it, researchers synthesized modern DNA that matched up with segments from the DNA of the teeth, and then pieced them together. When compared, the different genomes had no unique mutations in the medieval genome. Krause and others calculated that all human-plague causing bacteria diverged from a common ancestor between 1282 & 1343 making the Black Death the original pandemic. It is understandable that a version of the bacterium emerged more that 2 millennia ago around China. The newly sequenced genome will help scientists study the changes of the bacteria by looking at the killer itself.
I think it is interesting how this came back up and the fact they are able to take what is now a powdery substance from the victim’s teeth to get to the bottom of it… years and years later. Also, how fast it took over since Europeans were already down and out by the time it reached them.
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/10/13/black-death-is-grandmother-all-modern-plague/
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