NIH Study Shows Genomic Variation Causing Common Autoinflammatory Disease May Increase Resilience to Bubonic Plague
Published:30 Jun.2020 Source:NIH
Genomic variants that cause common periodic fever have spread in Mediterranean populations over centuries, potentially protecting people from the plague.
Researchers have discovered that Mediterranean populations may be more susceptible to an autoinflammatory disease because of evolutionary pressure to survive the bubonic plague. The study, carried out by scientists at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health, determined that specific genomic variants that cause a disease called familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) may also confer increased resilience to the plague.