The Oldest Human Ice Mummy Had His Stomach Contents Analysed by a Systems Biology Approach
Prof Rudolf Grimm
On the 21st March 2013, UMBI was fortunate to host Dr. Rudolf Grimm, who is a consultant to Agilent Technologies and has honorary appointments with UC Davis in USA and the Chungnam University in Korea. He is involved in the analysis of the 5300-year-old mummy (named Oetzi) who was discovered in the highlands of Austria.
The ice-man was found with an arrow in his back which indicated that he was involved in a fight and then fled up the mountain after he was injured and finally succumbed to his wounds. Post-mortem revealed a full stomach indicating that even though he was injured, he realised the need to continue eating to maintain his body strength and energy.
Dr. Grimm presented the analysis of the stomach contents using the systems biology approach. The researchers identified a number of organisms including Helicobacter pylori, Trichuris trichuria and several strains of Shigella from the microbiome data. From the metabolomics analysis, it showed that the ice man ate almonds, grilled goat’s meat marinated with coriander but there was little trace of dairy products. His DNA analysis revealed that the ice man has lactose intolerance.
It was indeed a fascinating lecture and it shows the power of the systems biology approach in elucidating a lot of information even from a 5300-year-old mummy!