Yeast found in iceman’s 5,000-year-old gut has been used to make sourdough
Scientists have used yeast from the gut of Ötzi the Iceman to make sourdough bread.
Scientists have used yeast from the gut of Ötzi the Iceman to make sourdough bread.
The 5,300-year-old hunter, who was found frozen in the Alps in 1991, has fascinated reseachers for decades.
Now a team has uncovered new insights into the complex microbial ecosystem surrounding Ötzi, revealing that some microorganisms from the glacier where he was found have been associated with him ever since.
Using a range of samples and analytical techniques, scientists were able to separate microorganisms from his lifetime and those that colonised his remains after death, both in the ice and during more than three decades of modern preservation.
Frank Maixner, director of the Institute for Mummy Studies at Eurac Research, said: ‘We see continuity here. These yeasts have accompanied Ötzi on his long journey through the millennia.’
‘According to Dr Maixner, the findings demonstrate that the mummy is ‘not a static relic, but a dynamic biological system’.
In one of the project’s most unusual experiments, scientists reproduced one of the strains of yeast found in Ötzi’s gut. After keeping it alive for three months they were eventually able to produce sourdough bread.
While the process provided a lighter moment in the research, scientists believe the microorganisms may have more significant applications.
Cold-adapted microorganisms could, for example, be used in energy-efficient industrial processes such as low-temperature fermentation.
Their next plan however, is to use the yeast to brew an Ötzi the Iceman beer.The team identified genetic material from bacteria belonging to Ötzi’s original gut microbiome in samples of internal tissue.
They also made a surprising discovery: cold-adapted yeast species, believed to originate from the glacial itself, still living on the mummy today.
Scientists analysed ice from the surface of the body and meltwater collected from within the mummy, while also taking numerous swab samples.