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becausenope t1_ivda9bm wrote

I think this might fit the bill.

The CCR5 delta 32 mutation creates resistance to HIV-1. It's found in roughly 10% of European and West Asian populations. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16216086/ While we don't know the exact virus to have caused such a mutation to occur, we do know it was selected for a reason, rapidly and much sooner than we had anticipated. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15815693/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18790087/

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DorisCrockford t1_ivdk9ty wrote

Wow, it's a lot older than I thought.

I'm homozygous for CCR5-delta32. It probably saved my life because I sowed my wild oats in the 1980's. It does have some downsides and I'm certainly not resistant to most viruses. It is a flaw in the immune system, after all, but HIV attacks the immune system.

Also a carrier of cystic fibrosis. That one supposedly protects against typhoid.

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mitharas t1_ivev5ou wrote

> I sowed my wild oats in the 1980's

Not really relevant, but I hadn't heard that expression before. I like it a lot!

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TheUnspeakableh t1_ivenvgo wrote

It also makes you resistant to yersinia pestis, commonly known as the Black Death or Bubonic Plague. Both diseases use the same binding protein and the CCR5 delta 32 mutation causes the matching protein receptor on your cell membranes to be misshapen.

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becausenope t1_ivgmcmg wrote

I've read that Yersinia pestis, the bacterial pathogen of bubonic plague, does not in fact use the CCR5 receptor for entry.

Would love for someone smarter than I to discuss. Thanks.

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belltrina t1_ivei4uc wrote

It's thought to be caused by the black plague, I shared a link earlier up

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ltlawdy t1_ivf309c wrote

Pretty sure it was the Black Plague because of you do a gene screening of the euro population, I thought the higher resistance lined up with the harder hit areas back in the Middle Ages

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