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History Forum / General / General Topics / June 2004Aids and bubonic plague
I recently read that some AIDS researchers are studying people whose ancestors survived the 14th century bubonic plague. Is it true that studying that plague might help in fighting AIDS? Is it not possible that people survived the plague because of random chance and not genes. When those fleas are jumping around it's just the luck of the draw. > I recently read that some AIDS researchers are studying people whose > ancestors survived the 14th century bubonic plague. [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > chance and not genes. When those fleas are jumping around it's just > the luck of the draw. Not necessarily. Some people have better resistance to certain diseases than others. That is how natural selection works. > I recently read that some AIDS researchers are studying people whose > ancestors survived the 14th century bubonic plague. [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > chance and not genes. When those fleas are jumping around it's just > the luck of the draw. They're not trying to study people who managed to avoid the plague. They're trying to study people who contracted the plague and somehow survived. Certainly luck could be a factor in their survival, but we know from studying other diseases that a certain percentage of individuals, be they mice, men or bacteria tend to have increased resistance or immunity from what ever happens to be going around. When a disease has as high mortaliaty rate as the plague did, it makes sence to study those who managed to survive the disease for clues as to why they survived. Such clues could provide a means of prevention or a cure. > I recently read that some AIDS researchers are studying people whose > ancestors survived the 14th century bubonic plague. [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > chance and not genes. When those fleas are jumping around it's just > the luck of the draw. You guys are close but no cigar. Where are all the immunologist at? The plague is a bacteria that binds to the same receptor that the HIV virus binds to. I believe that is the P24 antigen found in CD4 cells. These antigens are determined genetically. If you do not have the receptor or antigen you can not get HIV. People who lacked that antigen during the plaque years did not get sick. There are cluster communities in Europe in which survivors have passed on the genes. Like most genes there is a heterozygous state and homozygous state. |
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