The Black Death’s Genetic Legacy: Immunity and Autoimmune Disease

The Black Death didn’t just devastate 14th-century Europe—it rewrote the human genome. Scientists have uncovered genetic variants that once shielded survivors from plague but now leave millions vulnerable to autoimmune diseases like Crohn’s and lupus. In this episode, we unravel how an ancient pandemic still shapes modern immunity, why pneumonic plague remains nearly untreatable without antibiotics, and what this means for the future of human health. History’s deadliest plague may be gone, but its fingerprints are still inside us.