Scientists find yeast in frozen mummy's guts, use it to make sourdough bread
Researchers say four cold-adapted yeast species on the mummy may still be metabolically active, with one strain increasing over a decade in storage.
- Italian microbiologists have successfully baked a sourdough loaf using cold-adapted yeast strains cultivated directly from the 5,300-year-old remains of Ötzi the Iceman.
- The groundbreaking study, published Wednesday in the journal Microbiome, reveals that the frozen mummy is actually a dynamic ecosystem rather than a static time-capsule, hosting living, metabolically active organisms that are still responding to their environment.
- Lead researcher Mohamed Sarhan and his team at Bolzano's Eurac Research institute isolated four distinct yeast species from Ötzi's skin and internal meltwater, which genetic analysis indicates colonized the body shortly after his copper-age murder in the Alps.
- The microbiologists spent three months painstakingly reproducing and feeding the glacier-derived yeast strains inside a refrigerator, eventually establishing a highly active starter culture that produced what Sarhan called "a very, very good sourdough."
- Beyond experimental baking, the unique yeasts show unexpected potential for industrial pollution cleanup, as three of the isolated strains possess a rare ability to aggressively break down and consume phenol, a toxic environmental chemical.
65 Articles
65 Articles
The microbes of Ötzi the Iceman awaken thousands of years after his death
Recovered from the ice of an Alpine glacier at the end of the last century, almost everything about Ötzi was already known. That he was about 45 when he was killed from behind some 5,300 years ago. A detailed genetic study published three years ago revealed that, besides being bald, he had a dark complexion and likely came from distant Anatolia. We even know what he ate shortly before he was killed by an arrow. Now, a new study identifies the mi…
A study on the microbiome of the Iceman has identified microorganisms adapted to the cold that could accompany the mummy for millennia. Researchers have already experimented with the production of mother yeast and look at possible applications in the food industry
A new study shows that some of the microbes associated with Ötzi the Iceman may have remained viable for more than 5,000 years. Scientists believe that the mummy is not just a well-preserved ancient relic, but a kind of living ecosystem, containing both ancient and modern microorganisms.
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