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LiveScience
LiveScience
Ben Turner

BIZARRE: Single gene may help explain the plague s persistence throughout human history - You Need To See This

The painter Michel Serre's depiction of The Great Plague of Marseille in 1721. The epidemic was the last major plague outbreak in Western Europe, and killed over 100,000 people.

Scientists have discovered how adaptations in a single gene helped the plague survive for hundreds of years.

Responsible for the deadliest pandemic in history, the bacterium that causes the plague, Yersinia pestis, has existed in varying strains from ancient times until today.

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