Ancient Pathogen Genomics: The Genome of the Black Death

Synopsis and Review of Archaeology

Johannes Krause, a professor from the Eberhard-Karls University
Tubingen, Germany presented their research on the ancient pathogen
Yersinia Pestis bacterium, which was responsibble for the Black Plague, one
of the most devastating epedimics in human history. The lecture started of
with the history of infectious diseases. He mentioned Zoonosis, or the
transfer of pathogens from animals to humans. During the Neolithic Period,
humans started to settle down, develop agriculture and domesticate
animals; this is where Zoonosis comes in. Their team was able to sequence
the entire genome of the Black Death. They were able to reconstruct the
genome of Yersinia Pestis allowing them to track the changes in the
pathogens evolution over time. According to Krause, they got the DNA
sequences from the skeletons from East Smithfiels Cementery in London.
This cementery opened up during the black death to accommodate more
dead bodies. The DNAs they got were subjected to a DNA capture array to
fish out the ancient pathogen that they need from the other DNAs (plant,
bacteria and fungi). Next they had to test whether the DNAs that they got
were 600 years old through the DNA damage profile. The older the sample,
the greater the damage it acquires. Finally, the reconstructed DNA sequence
were compared to the new strains found as of today and they were able to
conclude that Y. Pestis was just one of the causative agents of Black Death,
most of the strains today go back to the ancient pathogen therefore there is
really nothing special about the ancient strain as compared to the modern
strains and finally, that Y. Pestis is the most recent common ancestor (MRCA)
of all the modern plagues within the last 4000 years.
The archaeology of this research is very significant and important. The
research was done to understand better the evolution of pathogens because
of the alarming re-emergance of a new wave of infectious diseases such as
HIV, SARS, Hanta, Ebola, Lyme disease and antobiotic resistant paathogens
like the Multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). These are the new age of
epedimics. As stated earlier, most infectious diseases started because of
Zoonosis during the Neolithic Period wherein humans started domesticating
animals. Some of the major Pandemics in History are the Plague of Athens
(4th century BC), the Antonine plague (2 nd century AD), the Justinian plague
(6th century AD) and the Black Death (14th cebtury AD). First, they had to go

back to the bubonic plague cycle to understand how humans were infected
and how it spread out across the globe. It was said that the pathogens came
from rodents and the fleas were responsible for the transfer of the pathogens
to humans. They have concluded that every outbreak today stems from a
descendant of the medieval plague. The direct descendants of the same
bubonic plague continue to exist today, killing people each year. So,

why is the mortality higher during the medieval period when there is not
much of a diference from the ancient pathogens and the modern
pathogens? Some of the reasons formulated was climate, next is the change
in vector population and con-current disease. It could also be due to human
factors. The survivors of that bubonic plague might have carried with him
immune genes and passed it through to the next generations. Next,
antibacterial medicine have already been discovered to stop these infectious
diseases. Also, Humans today have already learned how to adapt to these
kind of situations. An example of this is the quarantine which is used to
separate and restrict movement of people especially those infected with
communicable diseases. Before, ancient people were not aware which was
the reason why the pneumonic plague (the transfer of pathogen from human
to human through inhalation) happened. This research is very significant to
the understanding of the human past specifically the diseases that caused
millions of deaths, also to understand the evolution of these diseases and
how humans coped up with it through time. This is all done to prevent and
prepare for the alarming re-emergence of modern pathogens or the new age
of pandemics.