Researchers set to unravel Otzi’s secrets

WASHINGTON - European scientists have made a new advance in the study of Otzi - they now have access to the complete gene profile of the mummy.

Experts from three institutions pooled their skills to map Otzi’s entire genetic make-up: Albert Zink, Head of the EURAC Institute for Mummies and the iceman, together with Carsten Pusch, from the Institute of Human Genetics at the University of T�bingen and Andreas Keller from the bio-technological firm “febit” in Heidelberg. Together they have reached a historic moment in the study of the 5,000-year-old mummy.

The two scientists, Zink and Pusch, have been working together for some time and recently published, in collaboration with the Egyptian team led by Zahi Hawass, the latest findings on the life and the medical condition of Tutankhamen and his family.

Running a joint project with bioinformatics expert Andreas Keller turned out to be an ingenious stroke of luck for the two human biologists. Andreas Keller was able to make available the most up-to date sequencing technology, which the scientists then used to decode the millions of building blocks which make up Otzi’s genome, and this in turn enabled them to achieve results which, using previous procedures, would have taken several decades to complete. They extracted a bone sample from the pelvis of the ice mummy, and with the aid of the revolutionary SOLiD sequencing technology from the “Life Technologies” company created a DNA library, which contains by far the largest DNA data set ever recovered from the iceman.

This work on the iceman turned out to be a ground-breaking activity for the research team, as this was the first time that this newly developed technology was used on Otzi.

“We are dealing here with old DNA which in addition is heavily fragmented. It was only by using the very latest technology with its low failure rate that we scientists were able to decode Otzi’s DNA in its entirety within this short space of time,” said Albert Zink, who is entrusted with the care of Otzi.

The most exciting part of their work is yet to come.

The scientists are about to process the enormous quantity of bio-data now available to them which should contain the answers to a great many questions. Are any of Otzi’s descendants still around today and if so, where might they be found? Can any genetic mutations be observed between earlier and present day populations? What conclusions about today’s genetic diseases and other prevalent illnesses such as diabetes or cancer can be drawn from the examination of Otzi’s genetic make-up, and his predisposition to various types of ailments? What benefits can be derived from these findings for our own study of genetic medicine?

Next year, we shall celebrate the 20th anniversary of Otzi’s discovery. The scientists will mark this occasion by presenting their data analysis as well as the resulting conclusions. (ANI)