![]() It came after the Plague of Justinian in the sixth to eighth centuries, and preceded modern plague, which infects some 2,000 people a year. The Black Death is supposedly the second of a trilogy of plague pandemics. Even now, people are still succumbing to a dynasty of disease that began in the Dark Ages. Indeed, Schuenemann and Bos found that all of the strains that infect humans today descended from one that circulated during the Black Death. Y.pestis may not be the same bacterium that butchered medieval Europe 660 years ago, but it’s not far off. This species – Yersinia pestis – still causes plague today, and the modern strains are surprisingly similar to the ancient one.Ĭompared to the strain that acts as a reference for modern plague, the ancient genome differs by only 97 DNA ‘letters’ out of around 4.6 million. In the latest chapters, Verena Schuenemann from the University of Tubingen and Kirsten Bos from McMaster University have used samples from East Smithfield to reconstruct the full genome of the bacterium behind the Black Death. ![]() It was one of the biggest disasters in human history and seven centuries on, its victims are still telling its story. These remains belong to people killed by the Black Death, an epidemic that killed between 30 and 50 percent of Europe in just five years. Two cemeteries, established in the area in the 14th century, contain round 2,500 of bodies, piled five deep. The road of East Smithfield runs through east London and carries a deep legacy of death. Science progresses by adding new data to an ever-growing picture. This is an updated version of an old piece, edited to include new information. ![]()
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