A recently published study concluded that Ötzi’s mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), which came directly from the mother, is absent or rare in present-day populations.
The mtDNA belongs to a novel lineage of haplogroup K1, scientifically known as K1f, not found in extent populations. K1f was compared with 1,007 mtDNA that pointed to the same conclusion, extinction.
The study explained that the maternal lineage did not grow demographically. The population could have been originated and extinct in the eastern Italian Alps, the researchers wrote in Scientific Reports.
“It was relatively easy to analyze and — along with the Y chromosome — allows us to go back in time, telling us about the genetic history of an individual. Despite this, the genetic relationship between the Iceman’s maternal lineage and lineages found in modern populations was not yet clear,” said Valentina Coia, a biologist at the European Academy of Bolzano/Bozen (EURAC).
However, the father lineage (G2a) is present in modern day Europeans, which means that he did take part in migrations that went through the Alps.
The 5,300-year-old mummy, known as Ötzi, was discovered in 1991 on the Tisenjoch Pass in the Italian part of the Ötztal Alps, near the Austrian border by a group of Germans.
Ötzi is described by the Scientifics as lactose intolerant, with a genetic predisposition for an increased risk for coronary heart disease and probably suffered from Lyme disease, as reported by Discovery News.
He has been an incredible help to the scientific community. The mummy is helping to understand European migration with an enormous amount of information in his body, from bacteria to his cloth and tools.
A previous announce from the Iiceman was a discovered bacteria called Helicobacter pylori, a pathogen that produce gastritis and stomach ulcers, which apparently Ötzi suffered. The bacteria helped to understand Asian and African migration into Europe.
Source: Scientific Reports