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2w ago

Researchers Revive Cold‑Adapted Yeasts from Ötzi and Bake Sourdough

A June 3 study reports living glacier‑adapted fungi and ancient gut bacteria on the 5,300‑year‑old mummy and says modern preservation practices are reshaping its microbiome.

A researcher examines the mummified remains of Otzi, a man whose body was preserved in glacial ice for more than 5,300 years, in a conservation chamber at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, Italy, in this undated photograph. South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology/Eurac Research/Marion Lafogler/Handout via REUTERS
A researcher examines the foot of the naturally mummified remains of Otzi, a man whose body was preserved in glacial ice for more than 5,300 years, in a refrigeration chamber at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, Italy, in this undated photograph. South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology/Eurac Research/Marion Lafogler/Handout via REUTERS
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Overview

  • The peer‑reviewed paper published June 3 reports that scientists cultured four cold‑adapted yeast taxa from samples taken from Ötzi and used one revived strain to produce a sourdough starter and loaf.
  • Genetic analyses identified gut bacteria inside Ötzi that are rare in people from industrialized societies and match microbes linked to high‑fiber, preindustrial diets.
  • The team compared samples from 2010 and 2019 and found a large rise in the yeast genus Glaciozyma that the authors interpret as growth under museum storage, though this interpretation rests on a limited time series.
  • External experts and the authors note methodological limits and alternative explanations, with critics urging RNA or other activity assays to distinguish true ongoing metabolism from recent colonization or activation during thawing.
  • The study shows conservation has altered the mummy’s surface microbes—spray water introduced modern bacterial signatures and historical phenol treatment may have selected for phenol‑metabolizing yeasts—prompting calls for routine microbial monitoring and revised preservation protocols.