Five millennia on, iceman surrenders DNA secrets

Nearly 20 years after the dead man's head was found peeping from a melting Alpine glacier, investigators have finally seen fit to contact his relatives.

This doesn't indicate sloth on the part of the Italian authorities, but instead, advances in DNA technology that may lead scientists to living descendants of South Tyrol's 5300-year-old mummified man.

Oetzi the iceman, who today resides in a sterile glass box at 7C in 100 per cent humidity, is by far the oldest mummified person ever found - those of ancient Egypt are at least 1000 years younger. He is the permanent star exhibit in a museum in the town of Bolzano.

In this grotesque but timeless state, researchers have been able to extract DNA from a bone in Oetzi's pelvis. And last week it was announced they had sequenced his entire genome and the hunt was now on to find his descendants - and evidence of genetic changes that have occurred since Neolithic times.

With Oetzi's complete genetic map for their perusal, Dr Albert Zink, the director of the Iceman Institute in Bolzano, and his colleagues said it might also be possible to shed light on hereditary aspects of diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and cancer.

"There are key gene mutations that we know are associated with diseases such as cancer and diabetes and we want to see if Oetzi had them or whether they arose more recently."

Earlier studies had decoded the iceman's mitochondrial DNA, but these tiny gene sequences, which are passed by mothers to their children, provided only limited information, although they did suggest that if Oetzi still had relatives in the Alps, there weren't that many of them.

Zink is now working with Carsten Pusch from the Institute of Human Genetics at the University of Tuebingen and Andreas Keller from Febit, a biotech firm in Heidelberg, to share resources and knowledge, and hopefully speed the arrival of research findings in time for next year's 20th anniversary of Oetzi's discovery.

"From comparisons based on the mitochondrial DNA we weren't able to find any relatives in the region. But with the entire genome, there's a good chance we might," said Zink. "We're at the start of a big and very exciting project. I think Oetzi is going to provide us with a lot of information."

Oetzi has proved a goldmine for scientists since he was discovered in the snow on September 19, 1991, over 3000m up on the Italian-Austrian border. Anthropologists learned from the wear and tear in Oetzi's joints that some Neolithic people, contrary to previous theories, spent most if not all their lives high in the mountains.

Oetzi, who was about 165cm in height, weighed about 59kg and was probably about 45 when he died, had also been around the block a few times. He had three broken ribs, a nasty cut on his hand, the intestinal parasite whipworm and fleas.

Scientist were also able to piece together Oetzi's attire - a goatskin loincloth, leather leggings, a goatskin coat and a cloak of grass stitched together with animal sinews. He wore a bearskin cap and leather shoes stuffed with grass to keep his feet warm and had about 57 carbon tattoos.

Initially, it was thought he froze to death in a blizzard. But CT scans have revealed his body contained a flint-headed arrow that entered through his shoulder, stopping close to his left lung but rupturing the key blood vessel carrying blood from his heart to his left arm. Oetzi was murdered.

TREASURES OF THE MUMMIES

JUANITA (OR THE ICE MAIDEN)

Believed to have been 12-14 years old when ritually sacrificed over 500 years ago, the well-preserved frozen corpse of Incan girl "Juanita" was discovered by a United States anthropologist and his guide 6700m above sea level on Mt Ampato in southern Peru in 1995. The treasures of her tomb remained undisturbed, offering insight into the ceremony of Incan sacrifice.

THE TOLLUND MAN

Discovered in 1950 in a peat bog in Jutland, Denmark, the head of the 1500-year-old "Tollund Man" was so intact that he was initially mistaken for a recent murder victim. Deep wounds and a rope around his neck suggest he was hanged. However, the arrangement of his corpse suggests he, too, was sacrificed.

THE LADY OF DAI

In 1971, diggers near Changsha, China, struck the 2000-year-old tomb of Xin Zhui, Lady of the Dai region and wife of the Marquis of Han. About 50 years old when she died, she was buried with 22 tightly wrapped silk dresses. A mysterious red liquid preserved her corpse so well that her last meal was found in her stomach and blood (type A) was still in her veins. Scientists have identified medical problems linked to her rich diet.

- INDEPENDENT