Single Gene Shift Prolonged Bubonic Plague Pandemics

Black Death Bacterium Evolved to be Less Aggressive to Kill Victims Slowly

Learn more about Yersinia pestis, the bacteria behind the ‘Black Death,’ which changed over time to cause less virulent, but longer pandemics.

Study reveals how the evolution of a single gene allowed the plague to keep killing

A multiyear investigation pieced together ancient DNA from strains of the plague, bringing together researchers from across the Atlantic

Study Reveals Plague's Evolutionary Hack to Survive 3 Pandemics

The bacteria that cause the plague evolved to become less deadly over time, allowing it to continue infecting people in three separate pandemics over more than a thousand years, new research said Thursday.

Evolution of a single gene allowed the plague to adapt, survive and kill much of humanity over many centuries

Scientists have documented the way a single gene in the bacterium that causes bubonic plague, Yersinia pestis, allowed it to survive hundreds of years by adjusting its virulence and the length of time it took to kill its victims, but these forms of plague ultimately died out.

Plague bacteria became less deadly to last longer, study finds

Yersinia pestis continued infecting people in three separate pandemics over more than a thousand years. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Scientists crack the code to Black Death’s prolonged reign of terror

Research shows how a single gene in Yersinia pestis, the pathogen that caused the plague, allowed it to endure across centuries