Scientists crack DNA of Black Death, Plan to Bring Back

[Sesquipedalian]

Maybe 2012 wasn't as crazy as we thought... http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/13/science/13plague.html Scientists have cracked the genetic code of the Bubonic Plague, and they plan to bring it back to find out what actually killed the victims of the Black Death. I can only hope that this will not escape somehow and create a whole new epidemic. Discuss.

[Seroquel]

I, for one, welcome our new scientist overlords.

[stormcrow]

This is strange no doubt. The bubonic plague killed a vast amount of people and the people who where not infected (who were possibly immune to it) passed their genes onto their offspring who inherited this immunity (although according to the article there was another outbreak in San Fransisco in 1900). Considering we are the offspring of those survivors I think we should be alright. Although evolution applies to the bacteria as well so there is the possibility that they mutate and infect the people who are immune. What I think is more likely is the possibility that this experiment will teach us more about the nature of diseases and save life's in the future.

[khh]

The black plague as it we know it should respond well to penicillin, I believe.

[Arra]

Yeah, it only takes antibiotics to fight it off. If only they knew that back then...

[Spartiate]

The plague still exists...

[tommo]

^obviously didn't read the article.

[Spartiate]

^ is wrong. I was talking to people terrified that reanimating the 14th century plague would somehow create a mass epidemic when today's plague is very well contained (and treatable).

[Original Poster]

Its only been in the last decade that they stopped vaccinating infants for bubonic plague, at least in Cali.

[tommo]

^ is wrong. I was talking to people terrified that reanimating the 14th century plague would somehow create a mass epidemic when today's plague is very well contained (and treatable). Then you didn't read it very well. The plague's now are different to the black plague.

[tommo]

The plague still exists... When people say THE plague, they mean the Black Plague. Obv. Then you try to say it is the same thing that is around today. When the article clearly says there are several differences. Right in the first couple of paragraphs IIRC.

[Spartiate]

When people say THE plague, they mean the Black Plague. Obv. Then you try to say it is the same thing that is around today. When the article clearly says there are several differences. Right in the first couple of paragraphs IIRC. "The plague" is a disease that still exists today. It has three forms: bubonic, pneumonic and septicemic (depending on the location of the infection). It is not a big deal today because it is easily treated with antibiotics and our hygiene standards in cities are much higher than the Middle Ages (plague is spread by flees). The "Black Death", which is the common name for the pandemic in Europe of the 14th century, was caused by the same bacteria that exists today (Yersinia pestis). The article (and other sources) claim that it was possibly of a strain that is extinct today. This is understandable given that this pandemic is almost 700 years old, that version of the plague is ancestral to today's version. We have no reason to believe that it would act very differently or respond to treatment differently than today's plague, it's essentially the same bug. There are many different strains of the influenza virus, but they're still all called "flu". In fact the plague has appeared at other times in history... Other important plague pandemics were the Plague of Justinian and the Third Pandemic in China. It's all the same bug.

[ThePreserver]

The plague known commonly as "The Plague" still exists. It does. We just don't call it the "Black Death" anymore because it's most commonly found in small instances in remote areas/undeveloped nations (people without access to antibiotics.) 362 cases were reported in the United States in a 2 year period in the 90's. Human Plague -- United States, 1993-1994 That's the Center for Disease Control. Let's all be friendly now and not say hateful things. You don't have to argue when you provide backup evidence to your claims