The remains of Ötzi, the ‘Iceman’, harbor modern and ancient microorganisms
The so-called ‘Iceman’, Ötzi, who lived approximately 5,300 years ago, was discovered in 1991 in the Ötztal Alps, on the border between Austria and Italy. His mummified remains were preserved at -6°C in a museum to replicate the conditions in which they were found. Now, a team from Italy has discovered that he contains communities of both ancient and modern microorganisms, some of which may be metabolically active or capable of replicating under the current preservation conditions, although, for the moment, no damage has been detected. According to the researchers, this demonstrates that “the ‘Iceman’ is not a static relic, but a dynamic biological interface.” The results are published in Microbiome.
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