Genes That Helped Us Survive Black Death Continue to Influence Our Mortality Today
Very good article-understandable. Good science.
Genes That Helped Us Survive Black Death Continue to Influence Our Mortality Today
https://www.sciencealert.com/genes-that-helped-us-survive-black-death-continue-to-influence-our-mortality-today
Health
08 March 2023 By David Nield
skull with cross femurs below (Hailshadow/Getty Images Plus)
The Black Death that ravaged Eurasia and North Africa in the 14th century had a profound effect on our balance of genes, one that according to a new study is still deciding our fate today.
Those effects are a mix of good and bad news. While the genetic variations that helped our ancestors survive the plague continue to offer some protection against similar respiratory diseases today, they also leave us prone to damaging autoimmune conditions.
Last year researchers published a comparison of genomes taken from individuals who lived before, during, and after the outbreaks of Yersinia pestis infections that swept across Europe. They'd found those who had two identical copies of a gene called ERAP2 were around 40 to 50 percent more likely to survive than those with two variants of the gene.
To better understand how the current state of ERAP2 variation in modern populations might still be influencing our ability to cope with infection, another team of researchers sifted through three large study databases: the UK Biobank, FinnGen, and GenOMICC. These databases each have information on hundreds of thousands of participants, enabling the study authors to see if combinations of ERAP2 are related to any other health issues.
The team found that same double-up of identical ERAP2 copies bestowed a lower risk of respiratory diseases such as COVID-19. More surprisingly, those with two of the same copy also faced a higher risk of the autoimmune diseases Crohn's disease and Type 1 diabetes.
"This gene essentially chops up proteins for the immune system," says infections specialist Fergus Hamilton from the University of Bristol in the UK.
"Although we don't know the exact mechanism influencing disease risk, carriers of alleles that provide more protection against respiratory disease seem to have an increased risk of autoimmune disease.".......................
= new reply since forum marked as read
