BBC Focus Magazine

[Shadowwolf]

An international team -- led by researchers at McMaster University and the University of Tubingen in Germany -- has sequenced the entire genome of the Black Death, one of the most devastating epidemics in human history.

This marks the first time scientists have been able to draft a reconstructed genome of any ancient pathogen, which will allow researchers to track changes in the pathogen's evolution and virulence over time. This work -- currently published online in the journal Nature -- could lead to a better understanding of modern infectious diseases.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111012132653.htm