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Otzi The Iceman

March 1, 2012 by · Comments Off on Otzi The Iceman 

Otzi The Iceman, The mystery of ?tzi the Iceman, the 5,300 frozen mummy discovered in the Easter Alps about 20 years ago, may have been solved. Scientists said it appears dear, old ?tzi may have had the oldest known case of Lyme disease, the eventually led to his demise.
Researchers analyzed the Iceman’s genome and discovered his genetic material from bacterium responsible for the disease that is spread through ticks.

The evidence of Lyme disease is an “intriguing investigative lead,” according to Dr. Steven Schutzer, an immunologist at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-New Jersey Medical School, reported Fox News. Shutzer is a lead investigator that sequenced 17 strains of Lyme diseases modern bacteria, called Borrelia burgdoferi.

Now we know what we want to look for, now that we know there is a possibility of that being here, we can do a very targeted approach that looks for Borrelia,” said Shutzer, according to Fox News.

Humans get Lyme disease, which was first found in the United State in Connecticut in the mid-1970s, from tick bites.

The genome analysis concluded that ?tzi was approximately 46 years old at the time of his death, stood about 5 feet, 2 inches, had brown eyes and was lactose intolerant. They also concluded that he suffered from hardening of arteries and was prone to cardiovascular disease.

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