A team of scientists from the EURAC Institute in Bolzano (Italy), as well as several researchers from the University of Vienna (Austria) have discovered non-human DNA in the sample of hip bone that was extracted from the 5,300-year-old mummy found on a glacier in the Alps and named Ötzi, the ice man.
Experts have found evidence of a bacterium , specifically Treponema denticola , a pathogen related to periodontal disease , concluding, after a CT scan of the remains, that the iceman would have suffered from periodontitis. The researchers are surprising how the sample of such a small and ancient bone is able to provide us with data about this bacterium that moved from the mouth, through the bloodstream, to the hip bone.
“ This non-human DNA is derived primarily from bacteria that normally live on and in our bodies . Only the interaction between certain bacteria or an imbalance within this bacterial community can cause certain diseases. Therefore it is very important to reconstruct and understand the composition of the bacterial community by analyzing this mixture of DNA ”, says Thomas Rattei, co-author of the study.
The conclusions of the study have been published in the journal Plos One .
