Scientific Genome Analysis and the Black Death

Scientific genome analysis has shaped history once again with a recent study published in the science journal _Nature Communications_. This painting of death strangling a victim of the plague gets at the horror caused by the infamous Black Death, a pandemic that wiped out a third of Europe’s population in the 14th century. By studying the DNA sequences that made up the genomes of 38 victims from nine sites across Eurasia, scientists are postulating that this particular strain of the bacteria Yersinia Pestis — deadly enough to kill mice with just three bacili — entered Europe from just one entrance point, traceable to a Russian town called Laishevo. (See third image for map.) Although forthcoming evidence might change this hypothesis, the fact that scientists can distinguish various lineages of disease-spreading bacteria really does give us new windows into the distant past. The 14th-century pandemic was probably the worst of three known widespread episodes of the Bubonic Plague. In particular, this one spread rapidly, stuck around for a long time once it hit, and then – for still uncertain reasons — vanished. No wonder it struck Medieval Europeans with such terror. The second photo shows skelotons of burried plague victims from a site in Toulouse, France.