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NEWS > SCIENCE > SCIENTISTS RECREATE THE BLACK PLAGUE FOR THEME PARK
SCIENTISTS RECREATE THE BLACK PLAGUE FOR THEME PARK
October 16 2011
Hamilton, Canada – While there have certainly been worse diseases, there are now, there is arguably no more potent, dangerous, impactful, or frightening disease that has afflicted mankind that than the Black Plague.
The Plague killed millions of Europeans during the Dark Ages, upwards of half the population of the continent, forever altering the destiny of the nations there and the world as a whole. Alongside the great technological and cultural advances we have made in the last 50,000 years, one could argue that the Plague stands alongside them as a profound change in the course of our history.
Now a group of international scientists have recreated the bug that caused the plague, albeit this time in a laboratory setting, in an effort to study the mechanics of the disease, how it spread, and what it can teach us about other potential plagues. Following their research into the disease the researcher plan to put the disease on display in perfectly safe virology theme park.
“It was literally like the four horseman of the apocalypse that rained on Europe,” said lead researcher Johannes Krause. “People literally thought it was the end of the world.”
Fortunately, advances in cleanliness and antibiotics have made us largely immune from the effects of the disease. It’s believed likely that even on the off-chance that the disease was released into the wild that it could be easily treated, likely.
Thus far, the Plague has been isolated to a handful of laboratories in Canada, the U.S. and Germany.
“Many people don’t realize this but the Plague wasn’t wiped out entirely. Some people around the world still do get it, or at least a version of it, on a regular basis. Luckily for us we have changed dramatically since it was at its prime, not just in our behaviours but also in our DNA. Our bodies are better at fighting disease now,” said Scrape TV Science analyst Dr. Howard Poe. “That makes it very unlikely that this new version of the disease could have any real significant impact on the human population. That said, this is not the original version. This is a recreation based on new strands of the disease and, if it were to get into the human population, it could mutate with unforeseen consequences.”
There are about 2000 cases reported around the world on a yearly basis but largely because they happen in rural areas, the disease is not spread widely.
“Recreating the strand itself is not all that bad an idea but putting it on display might
very well be. You could potentially see thousands or millions of people pass by the bug and that increases the chances of more infection. This is the most famous disease in history, it will draw a lot of attention,” continued Poe. “By exposing that many people there is a chance that it will get into the wrong person and mutate, and that mutated version will then spread and spread and spread. In today’s world a disease that virulent would be devastating, much more so than in the past and we are talking about the lives of billions here, not millions. Putting it on display might not be the best idea. There isn’t much to see anyways.”
The German version of the theme park is scheduled to open next year, Plague or no Plague.
Anna Phillips, Science Correspondent
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