VOA科学技术2023--Researchers Learn More about Famous Mummy's Ancestry

Researchers Learn More about Famous Mummy's Ancestry¹

Many years after the famous mummy Oetzi was discovered in the Italian Alps, scientists have studied his DNA² again.

Researchers found that the ancient hunter mostly had ancestors who were farmers in an area that is in present day Turkey. Oetzi had less hair on his head and darker skin than scientists had first thought, says the study.

The study appeared recently in the publication Cell Genomics.

Oetzi, who lived more than 5,000 years ago, was frozen into the ice after someone shot him with an arrow. In 1991, German visitors to the area found his body, along with some of his clothing and tools.

Oetzi's belongings³ included a copper⁴ ax, a longbow and a bearskin hat. The remains⁵ are housed at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology⁶ in Bolzano, Italy.

Researchers published a study of Oetzi's genetic⁷ material, or genome, in 2012. However, the study of ancient DNA improved in the years that followed.

So, scientists decided⁸ to investigate the mummy's genes⁹ again, said study writer Johannes Krause of Germany's Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary¹⁰ Anthropology¹¹. Researchers used DNA taken from Oetzi's hip¹² bone.

The new genome is "providing deeper insights into the history of this mummy," said Andreas Keller of Germany's Saarland University. Keller worked on the earlier study but was not involved with the latest.

Based on the new genome, Oetzi's appearance when he died around age 45 was much like the mummy looks today. It is dark and does not have much hair on it, said study writer Albert Zink of the Institute for Mummy Studies at Eurac Research in Italy. Scientists previously¹³ thought the iceman was lighter-skinned and hairier in life, but that his mummified body had changed over time.

His genome also showed he had an increased chance of the diseases obesity¹⁴ and diabetes¹⁵, the researchers reported.

Oetzi's ancestry suggests that he lived among an isolated¹⁶ population in the Alps, Zink said. Most Europeans today have a mix of genes from three groups: farmers from Anatolia, hunter-gatherers from the west and herders from the east. However, 92 percent of Oetzi's ancestry was from just the Anatolian farmers.

Words in This Story

mummy – n. a dead body of a person or animal that has been preserved

arrow – n. a weapon that is made to be shot from a bow and is usually a stick with a sharp point on one end and feathers at the other

ax – n. a tool that has a heavy metal blade and a long handle

longbow – n. a large wooden weapon that shot arrows and was used for hunting or fighting

insight – n. the ability to understand people and situations

isolated – adj. far away from others; remote

herder – n. a person who manages, breeds, or tends to livestock

1 ancestry   

n.祖先，家世

参考例句：

• Their ancestry settled the land in 1856.他们的祖辈1856年在这块土地上定居下来。
• He is an American of French ancestry.他是法国血统的美国人。

2 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

3 belongings   

n.私人物品，私人财物

参考例句：

• I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
• Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。

4 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 archaeology   

n.考古学

参考例句：

• She teaches archaeology at the university.她在大学里教考古学。
• He displayed interest in archaeology.他对考古学有兴趣。

7 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

9 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪

10 evolutionary   

adj.进化的；演化的，演变的；[生]进化论的

参考例句：

• Life has its own evolutionary process.生命有其自身的进化过程。
• These are fascinating questions to be resolved by the evolutionary studies of plants.这些十分吸引人的问题将在研究植物进化过程中得以解决。

11 anthropology   

n.人类学

参考例句：

• I believe he has started reading up anthropology.我相信他已开始深入研究人类学。
• Social anthropology is centrally concerned with the diversity of culture.社会人类学主要关于文化多样性。

12 hip   

n.臀部，髋；屋脊

参考例句：

• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line.新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

13 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

14 obesity   

n.肥胖，肥大

参考例句：

• One effect of overeating may be obesity.吃得过多能导致肥胖。
• Sugar and fat can more easily lead to obesity than some other foods.糖和脂肪比其他食物更容易导致肥胖。

15 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

16 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。