BOLZANO, ITALY, June 23 (DC Times Online) — A peer-reviewed study in the journal Microbiome found four cold-adapted yeast species on Ötzi the Iceman, the 5,300-year-old Alpine mummy, with traces detected in skin samples, meltwater inside the body and stomach contents, according to Eurac Research scientists.
The researchers said the genetic work suggests Ötzi’s remains may act as a “dynamic biological interface” where ancient glacier-derived microbes and modern contaminants coexist under museum conditions. They also reported degraded and modern DNA fragments, while noting that some microbes may have been introduced during discovery or preservation.
In the study, the team grew multiple microbe species and said it produced four viable ones, three of which were able to use phenol, a compound used to prevent fungal growth, as a food source. The authors said that points to a mix of ancient and more recent microbial life associated with the mummy.
Ötzi was discovered in the Alps in 1991 near the Austria-Italy border and is now kept in a cold cell at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, Italy. The museum says radiocarbon dating places him around 3300 BC and that later analyses indicate he was killed by an arrow wound and other injuries.
