Study finds active microbes in 5,300-year-old Ötzi mummy (opens in new tab)

Researchers led by Eurac Research in Bolzano, Italy, published a study in the journal Microbiome mapping microbial communities associated with Ötzi, the naturally preserved Alpine mummy who died about 5,300 years ago near the present Italy-Austria border. The team reported a complex microbiome that includes bacteria linked to the Copper Age man's gut flora, cold-adapted yeasts and other fungi, and more recent microorganisms associated with decades of museum conservation. Researchers found fou...