Ancient DNA from London cemetery confirms Black Death was caused by Yersinia pestis plague
By
The Economist
Summary
Geneticists recovered centuries-old DNA from plague victims buried in a medieval London cemetery (East Smithfield). By isolating Yersinia pestis DNA from teeth, they confirmed that the Black Death (1346-1353), which killed roughly half of Europe's population, was indeed caused by plague — proving a long-held historical hypothesis. The article also notes that dense cities may not have been necessary for plague outbreaks.
Source
Twitter / XAncient DNA from London cemetery confirms Black Death was caused by Yersinia pestis plagueeconomist.comKey quotes
· 2 pulledThis let them confirm what historians had long suspected but had never quite been able to prove: that the Black Death, which killed perhaps half of Europe's population between 1346 and 1353, was indeed an outbreak of plague.
Dense cities do not seem to have been necessary for outbreaks of the disease
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