Ötzi the Iceman's 5,000-year-old stomach bug sheds light on human migration
Ötzi the Iceman's 5,000-year-old stomach bug sheds light on human migration
Mummified remains of man killed in European alps provide clue to timing of migration from north Africa
Agence France-Presse
Thursday 7 January 2016 23.39 EST
The gut microbes of the Ötzi the Iceman, a 5,300-year-old mummy found frozen in a European glacier in 1991, have shed new light on the history of human migration, scientists said on Thursday.
Researchers thawed the remains of Ötzi, who was killed by an arrow when he was between 40 and 50 years old and hiking across the Ötztal Alps, which straddle modern-day Italy and Austria.
When they tested the contents of his stomach, they found a bacterium called Helicobacter pylori, an age-old pathogen that has evolved into different strains according to the region of the world in which it is found.
“Surprisingly, a strain of bacterium in his gut shares ancestry with an Asian strain,” said the study in the US journal Science. “In contrast to the fact that most modern Europeans harbor a strain ancestral to north African strains.”
More:
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/jan/08/otzi-the-icemans-5000-year-old-stomach-bug-sheds-light-on-human-migration
[center]~ ~ ~[/center]
Were Otzi the Iceman’s ancestors from Asia?
Friday 8th January 2016
Submitted by Alexander McNamara
There is a 50 per cent chance an acid-resistant bacterium is lurking in your tummy, waiting to provoke a peptic ulcer that might eventually turn into stomach cancer. According to a study published in the journal Science, Ötzi the Iceman, one of the best examples of a naturally preserved mummy just joined the list of the stomach bug-plagued.
An international team of researchers has reconstructed the genome of the bacterium Helicobacter pylori from food residues found in the stomach of the 5,300-year-old frozen mummy. In order to extract the tissue and food samples from the Iceman’s digestive tract, they had to unthaw Ötzi who is normally conserved at a temperature of -6° C and at a relative humidity of 98 per cent.
The scientists were not only able to prove the presence of H. pylori in the Iceman’s gastrointestinal tract but also found indications his immune system had in fact reacted to an infection caused by the bug.
"We showed the presence of marker proteins which we see today in patients infected with Helicobacter,” says Frank Maixner of the European Academy of Bozen/Bolzano (EURAC), one of the study’s lead authors.
More:
http://www.sciencefocus.com/news/were-otzi-iceman%E2%80%99s-ancestors-asia
[center]~ ~ ~[/center]
The Iceman's Stomach Bugs Offer Clues to Ancient Human Migration
DNA analysis of the mummy's pathogens may reveal when and how Ötzi's people came to the Italian Alps
By Brian Handwerk
smithsonian.com
January 7, 2016
It turns out Ötzi the legendary “Iceman” wasn't alone when he was mummified on a glacier 5,300 years ago. With him were gut microbes known to cause some serious tummy trouble.
These bacteria, Helicobacter pylori, are providing fresh evidence about Ötzi's diet and poor health in the days leading up to his murder. Intriguingly, they could also help scientists better understand who his people were and how they came to live in the region.
. . .
For instance, various examinations have revealed his age, how he died, what he wore and what he ate. We know he suffered from heart and gum disease, gallbladder stones and parasites. His genome has been studied, relatives have been found and his 61 tattoos have been mapped.
The latest discovery not only adds to the Iceman's health woes, it offers hints of human migration patterns into Europe. While not everyone has H. pylori in their guts, the bacteria are so frequently found in human stomachs that their evolution into different strains can be used to help reconstruct migrations going back about 100,000 years.
More:
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/iceman-stomach-bugs-clues-ancient-human-migration-180957738/#PbFhfYbL0AVXVKXe.99
= new reply since forum marked as read
