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GENETIC SELECTION BY PLAGUE. “The identification of the immune pathways and genetic variants that were specifically selected in Europe not only helps us to understand the evolutionary history of European populations, but also contributes to our understanding of the differences in susceptibility between European and other populations to modern human diseases.” https://lnkd.in/gcJ7VHH View in LinkedIn

SPECIATION QUESTIONS. "Models of adaptive speciation are typically concerned with demonstrating that it is possible for ecologically driven disruptive selection to lead to the evolution of assortative mating and hence speciation. However, disruptive selection could also lead to other forms of evolutionary diversification, including ecological sexual dimorphisms."" "DOI: 10.1111/j.0014-3820.2003.tb01489.x View in LinkedIn

IMMUNE STRENGTHENING. “Netea and his colleagues tested the ability of the toll-like receptors to react to Yersinia pestis, the bacterium that caused the Black Death. They found that the strength of the immune response varied depending on the exact sequence of the toll-like receptor genes.” https://lnkd.in/gWy9UtF View in LinkedIn

CHALLENGING. "When species differ in both ecological and sexual characters, it is notoriously difficult to distinguish between character divergence that is a cause or a result of species divergence." https://lnkd.in/ggrcHvH View in LinkedIn

GENOME MODIFICATION. “The plague did write itself into human genomes: The descendants of plague-affected populations share certain changes in some immune genes.” https://lnkd.in/ggGWR4A View in LinkedIn

Beyond Catalonia: pro-independence movements in Europe View in LinkedIn

POSITIVE SELECTION. “Geneticists know that human populations evolve in the face of disease. Certain versions of our genes help us fight infections better than others, and people who carry those genes tend to have more children than those who don’t. So the beneficial genetic versions persist, while other versions tend to disappear as those carrying them die. This weeding-out of all but the best genes is called positive selection.” https://lnkd.in/gWy9UtF View in LinkedIn

THE OLD AND WEAK. “Scientists long believed that the Black Death killed indiscriminately. But DeWitte's previous research found the plague was like many sicknesses: It preferentially killed the very old and those already in poor health.” https://lnkd.in/ggGWR4A View in LinkedIn

LAG PHASE. “It took some time for people to recognize that a terrible epidemic was breaking out among them and for chroniclers to note this. The timescale varies: in the countryside it took about forty days for realisation to dawn; in most towns with a few thousand inhabitants, six to seven weeks; in the  cities with over 10,000 inhabitants, about seven weeks, and in the few metropolises with over 100,000 inhabitants, as much as eight weeks.” https://lnkd.in/gZz5b2U View in LinkedIn

SHIP RATS. “Importantly, plague was spread considerable distances by rat fleas on ships. Infected ship rats would die, but their fleas would often survive and find new rat hosts wherever they landed. Unlike human fleas, rat fleas are adapted to riding with their hosts; they readily also infest clothing of people entering affected houses and ride with them to other houses or localities. This gives plague epidemics a peculiar rhythm and pace of development and a characteristic pattern of dissemination.” https://lnkd.in/gZz5b2U View in LinkedIn