i seem to recall they were digging up people buried in permafrost who died from the plague for that reason, to get an active copy of the disease to provide a cure on the off chance it reappears...
also they have found people who were immune to it and , so the story goes, their offspring today are actually immune to aids also. saw an interview with a guy who lived through the aids rise in San Fran. everyone he knew died of aids...everyone. turned out his ancestors were from a village in England somewhere that the plague just didnt infect/effect.
kind of amazing when you think of it.
***I seem to recall they were digging up people buried in permafrost***
I remember that! it was Eskimos who had died of the flu back in 1918. They were successful in finding live flu virus from back then.