The Secret of the Iceman: Stomach Held Pathogens that May be Related to Those in Modern Humans

Scientists are continually unearthing new facts about humans from the mummified remains of Otzi, the Copper Age man. Now, scientists have found a bacterium in his stomach that's in half of all humans today.

"Evidence for the presence of the bacterium Helicobacter pylori is found in the stomach issue of patients today, so we thought it was extremely unlikely that we would find anything because Otzi's stomach mucosa is no longer there," said Albert Zinc, one of the researchers, in a news release.

In this latest study, the researchers found a potentially virulent strain of bacteria, to which Otzi's immune system had already reacted. More specifically, they found the presence of marker proteins that they see in patients today infected with Heliobacter.

Today, a tenth of infected people develop further clinical complications, such as gastritis or stomach ulcers, mostly in old age. However, whether Otzi suffered from stomach problems is uncertain since his stomach tissue didn't survive, and it's in this tissue that such diseases can be discerned first.

"We had assumed that we would find the same strain of Helicobacter in Otzi as is found in Europeans today," said Thomas Rattei, one of the researchers, in a news release. "It turned out to be a strain that is mainly observed in Central and South Asia today."

The researchers believe that there were originally two strain types of the bacterium, an African and an Asian one, which at some point recombined into today's European version.

The findings reveal a bit more about the evolution of this bacterium. As researchers continue to study Otzi, it's likely they'll uncover more about ancient and modern humans.

The findings are published in the journal Science.

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