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| Science & Technology | |
| Suffering in Middle Ages: The Black Death still hurts people | |
| 2022-10-23 | |
by Nikolai Guryanov [RIA] The medieval plague pandemic was a turning point in the history of world civilization. A recent study shows that the Black Death has left a deep mark on the human genome and continues to affect people's health. "THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH" The bacterium Yersinia pestis, spread by rat fleas , originated from the region of Lake Issyk-Kul (modern Kyrgyzstan ). First, the Golden Horde was defeated. After the devastation of the capital, Saray, the infection moved along trade and military routes through the current south of Russia to the Crimea. According to one version, during the siege, the Horde pelted the Genoese fortress of Kaffa ( Feodosia ) with the corpses of those who died from the plague. Then, on the ships of the Genoese, the infection reached Europe. Spreading at an inexplicably high speed (four kilometers a day), in a few years (1346-1353) it destroyed, according to various estimates, from 30 to 50 percent of the European population. This may have affected human evolution. A team of scientists from the United States , Canada and a number of European countries analyzed DNA from the teeth of 206 people buried before, during and after the pandemic in London and Denmark, including in plague pits. The focus of researchers was the ERAP2 gene. It is responsible for the production of proteins that "crush" invading microbes and then "show" the fragments to the immune system, making it more efficient at recognizing and destroying pathogens. There are effective and ineffective versions of this gene. It turned out that after the pandemic, ERAP2 variants that work well spread throughout the European population. The shift reached ten percent within two or three generations. The gene helped to survive the pandemic and give offspring - the chances of this increased by one and a half times. “In a pandemic that kills 30 to 50 percent of the population, people are bound to select for protective alleles (gene variations). People susceptible to a circulating pathogen die. Even a small advantage means the difference between life and death. Of course, survivors who have reached childbearing age, pass on their genes," explains evolutionary geneticist Hendrik Poinar, one of the authors of the paper. BLACK DEATH IN A PETRI DISH Scientists have recreated the Black Death in a petri dish. Blood samples from people with beneficial mutations have shown greater resistance to the bacterium Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of plague. According to geneticists, the versions of ERAP2 that allowed medieval Europeans to survive the pandemic still dominate the population. However, having ceased to protect people from the plague, this genetic feature began to be harmful. A number of studies have linked ERAP2 variations to increased susceptibility to infectious and autoimmune diseases, such as Crohn's disease, which affects the gut in particular. It is noteworthy that this immune disorder is primarily characteristic of European countries and states with a population of European origin. So, the prevalence of the disease in Australia is 29.3 people per 100 thousand, in Canada - 20.2, in the UK - 10.6. In Russia, which is believed to have suffered from the plague not so much (although significantly), - only 3.5. Another "anti-plague" allele is suspected of being involved in rheumatoid arthritis and the deadly systemic lupus erythematosus . The authors of the work consider this "the balancing act of evolution." By the way, SARS-CoV-2 will not have such an impact on humans. The coronavirus killed mostly the elderly, while the black death affected everyone, including children. WELLNESS PROCEDURE By the middle of the 14th century, due to global cooling, Europe was suffering from crop failure and famine - this weakened collective immunity. In addition, the Europeans were constantly at war. Plague has been plagued since the Stone Age , but epidemics have been rare. The previous one, Justinianova, was quite a long time ago - in the middle of the first millennium, so the body of a medieval person was not ready to repel the attack of Yersinia pestis. In a 2014 study, which also examined the DNA of the remains from medieval London graves, they concluded that people became healthier overall after the plague pandemic. There were several more waves, but the mortality rate steadily decreased each time. The population grew rapidly, which continued until the demographic transition. The society has improved as well. According to a number of researchers, the sharp reduction in the labor force contributed to technological development. It is with the consequences of the plague pandemic that the appearance of the spinning wheel and the printing press, the widespread use of windmills and watermills are associated. Due to the high cost of labor, a demand was formed to increase its productivity. Feudalism was replaced by early capitalism. As noted in the book "Farewell, poverty!" economic historian Gregory Clark, against the background of a decrease in the population, his well-being increased: for example, in the second half of the 14th century, the share of expensive meat products in the diet of an English peasant sharply increased (55% compared to 43% in the pre-plague period). At the same time, the mass death of people in the east of the continent had the opposite effect - the pandemic significantly weakened the Golden Horde and ultimately led to its collapse. Related: Black Death: 2021-12-28 An Airborne Vaccine? Will Omicron crowd out the Beta and Delta variants and act like an airborne vaccine, albeit a naturally occurring one? Black Death: 2021-05-02 Niall Ferguson - 'Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe' Black Death: 2020-12-27 Indiana Jones : The Tale of a Filthy Priest | |
| Posted by:badanov |
| #1 Welcome to the four corners. One of the unofficial mottoes of New Mexico is 'home of the flea, land of the plague'. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2022-10-23 09:59 |