Researchers find active microbes in 5,300-year-old mummy

Researchers identified metabolically active microbes, including viable yeasts, within the 5,300-year-old ^[1] frozen remains of Ötzi the Iceman.

This discovery suggests that certain microorganisms can remain viable over millennia in extreme cold, potentially altering how scientists study ancient human health and environmental adaptation.

The findings involve a combination of bacteria that originally lived in the man's gut, and cold-tolerant fungi that colonized his body after death ^[2]. By culturing these organisms, the team determined that some of the microbes remained active despite the passage of time ^[2].

Ötzi was discovered in 1991 ^[3] in the Ötztal Alps on the border between Italy and Austria ^[3]. He was estimated to be about 45 years old ^[3] when he died. The frozen environment of the Alps acted as a natural preservative for both the body and its associated biological markers.

The study aimed to determine whether the ancient microbiome remained viable, and to examine the specific cold-adapted microbes preserved in the mummy ^[2]. The presence of these active organisms provides a rare glimpse into the biological state of a human from thousands of years ago.

While the body has been studied since its discovery, the ability to culture viable yeasts indicates that the preservation was sufficient to maintain cellular activity ^[2]. This allows researchers to analyze the interaction between the host's original gut flora, and the fungi that entered the system post-mortem ^[2].