Ancient DNA Study Challenges Previous Black Death Conclusions
A new study of the ancient DNA of the inhabitants of medieval Cambridge, published on January 17 in the journal Science Advances, disputes previously drawn conclusions about The influence of black death on the human genome. The study of 2022, published in Nature, argued that the options for immune genes survived during black death could have a protective effect. However, new data does not confirm this hypothesis.
In 1349, black death, a bubonic plague, fell upon Cambridge, England, causing death to 60% of the population of Europe. Despite the catastrophic consequences, recent studies show that this event did not leave a noticeable trace in the genomes of the residents of Cambridge. “It was such a destructive event that people expected to see some kind of genetic mark,” says the co-author of the study by Ruoun Hui from the University of Cambridge.
The human genome contains traces of ancient outbreaks of diseases, and there is convincing evidence that some variants of genes common in different populations helped their ancestors survive infections. However, it turned out to be difficult to connect such changes with specific disease outbreaks, such as black death.
Researchers from the University of Cambridge, led by Dicks and Toomas Kil depending, analyzed 275 genomes from medieval and post-Execution Cambridge and surrounding villages. In their work, only a few signs of natural selection were found after black death. Of the 245 immune options found in the samples of the inhabitants of London, only about 10% showed changes in Cambridge.
Despite some disagreements in the scientific community, the general opinion is that for the final conclusions about the influence of black death on the human genome, thousands of ancient genomes will be required. “I do not think that this problem will be finally resolved in a way that will satisfy everyone until we reach a much larger sample size,” says Luis Barre