Otzi's Microbiome
Every time I write a new episode on Ötzi the iceman, I think this is it. Nope! Scientists have just completed the most comprehensive analysis of the mummy’s microbiome, adding to the bacteria, fungi and yeasts they’ve identified in more than three decades of sampling.
He’s your favorite iceman, Norbert...so I was sure we hadn’t heard the last of him! Ötzi was found more than 30 years ago by hikers in the Alps when receding ice revealed his mummified body. Since then, he’s been kept at 21 degrees Fahrenheit, 100 percent relative humidity in the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Italy. Earlier studies show he died from an arrow wound more than 5,000 years ago.
Among the microbes on Ötzi, are those that lived in his gut while he was alive, and those introduced since he was found. They found bacteria that can live without oxygen in his gut, called anaerobes and allow us to glimpse the gut microbiome of our Copper Age ancestors. His gut bacteria match his high fat diet and snacks of dried wild meats and cereals as well as other plants. Some of those bacteria are rarely found today except in non-industrialized societies such as some tribes in Africa or South America.
Sampling of yeast from Ötzi’s stomach, skin and some of the water that had melted into his body were cold adapted species suggesting they were entombed with him when he died. Scientists even used some of that yeast to make a tasty sourdough bread. What’s next? An Otzi beer? Find out in future episodes of our iceman!
More Information
The Iceman’s microbiome: unveiling millennia of microbial diversity and continuity
The Iceman mummy, a 5300-year-old natural alpine glacier mummy, provides a unique opportunity to study ancient microbial ecosystems. However, disentangling the mummy’s endogenous microbiome from modern environmental contaminants introduced during three decades of conservation remains a significant challenge.
Scientists reveal Ötzi the Iceman's dynamic microbial world
Ötzi the Iceman died violently roughly 5,300 years ago in the Alpine region of the modern border between Italy and Austria. An arrowhead was found lodged in his left shoulder, having caused fatal bleeding when he was attacked in mountainous terrain. But, in some sense, Ötzi still lives, as new research shows.
More than 5,300 years after Ötzi’s death, researchers identified yeasts in his gut microbiome that continue to be active—and they used it to make bread.