Medieval History
An international team of scientists have concluded that the plague known as the Black Death originated in China over 2600 years ago. In the article, ?Yersinia pestis genome sequencing identifies patterns of global phylogenetic diversity?, which was published this week in the online edition of the journal Nature Genetics, the team used used genome sequencing to track the spread of the plague from the medieval period to the 19th century.
The plague evolved in the vicinity of China over 2000 years ago and spread repeatedly around the world in deadly pandemics. The scientists compared 17 complete plague genome sequences and 933 variable DNA sites on a unique global collection of plague isolates (bacterial strains). This information allowed the team to track the progress of historical pandemics throughout the world, and to calculate the age of different waves. Most of these events could be linked to known major historical events, such as the Black Death.
Click here to read this article from Medievalists.net
- When Newspapers Were New, Or, How Londoners Got Word Of The Plague
Daniel Defoe's novel about London's 1665 plague can help us understand new media. No, really. The plague was abroad. Londoners knew not where it had come from, only that it was upon Holland. "It was brought, some said from Italy, others...
- Researchers Reconstruct Genome Of The Black Death
An international team ? led by researchers at McMaster University and the University of Tubingen in Germany ? has sequenced the entire genome of the Black Death, one of the most devastating epidemics in human history. This marks the first time scientists...
- Hunting For A Mass Killer In Medieval Graveyards
Beneath the Royal Mint Court, diagonally across the street from the Tower of London, lie 1,800 mute witnesses to the foresight of the city fathers in the year 1348. Recognizing that the Black Death then scourging Europe would inevitably reach London,...
- Researchers Discover Original Bacteria Of The Black Death
The bacteria responsible for causing the 1348 Black Death, identified as one of the most cataclysmic events in human history, has been identified by researchers from Canada and Germany. Using a novel method of DNA enrichment coupled with high-throughput...
- Black Death Study Lets Rats Off The Hook
Rats weren't the carriers of the plague after all. A study by an archaeologist looking at the ravages of the Black Death in London, in late 1348 and 1349, has exonerated the most famous animal villains in history. "The evidence just isn't there...
Medieval History
Black Death came from China, study finds
An international team of scientists have concluded that the plague known as the Black Death originated in China over 2600 years ago. In the article, ?Yersinia pestis genome sequencing identifies patterns of global phylogenetic diversity?, which was published this week in the online edition of the journal Nature Genetics, the team used used genome sequencing to track the spread of the plague from the medieval period to the 19th century.
The plague evolved in the vicinity of China over 2000 years ago and spread repeatedly around the world in deadly pandemics. The scientists compared 17 complete plague genome sequences and 933 variable DNA sites on a unique global collection of plague isolates (bacterial strains). This information allowed the team to track the progress of historical pandemics throughout the world, and to calculate the age of different waves. Most of these events could be linked to known major historical events, such as the Black Death.
Click here to read this article from Medievalists.net
- When Newspapers Were New, Or, How Londoners Got Word Of The Plague
Daniel Defoe's novel about London's 1665 plague can help us understand new media. No, really. The plague was abroad. Londoners knew not where it had come from, only that it was upon Holland. "It was brought, some said from Italy, others...
- Researchers Reconstruct Genome Of The Black Death
An international team ? led by researchers at McMaster University and the University of Tubingen in Germany ? has sequenced the entire genome of the Black Death, one of the most devastating epidemics in human history. This marks the first time scientists...
- Hunting For A Mass Killer In Medieval Graveyards
Beneath the Royal Mint Court, diagonally across the street from the Tower of London, lie 1,800 mute witnesses to the foresight of the city fathers in the year 1348. Recognizing that the Black Death then scourging Europe would inevitably reach London,...
- Researchers Discover Original Bacteria Of The Black Death
The bacteria responsible for causing the 1348 Black Death, identified as one of the most cataclysmic events in human history, has been identified by researchers from Canada and Germany. Using a novel method of DNA enrichment coupled with high-throughput...
- Black Death Study Lets Rats Off The Hook
Rats weren't the carriers of the plague after all. A study by an archaeologist looking at the ravages of the Black Death in London, in late 1348 and 1349, has exonerated the most famous animal villains in history. "The evidence just isn't there...