Ötzi the Iceman scientists find 5,000-year-old blood sample
Oldest blood sample ever retrieved sheds new light on Ötzi's death and may help improve understanding of blood agingAs cold cases go, it does not get much colder than Ötzi the Iceman, whose body was found frozen solid in the Italian Alps 5,300 years after he died from an arrow wound.Since he was discovered by trekkers in 1991, scientists have mapped his DNA and figured out everything from what ailments he suffered from (Lyme disease and a weak heart) to the last meal he ate (venison and ibex) before he was shot in the back, probably by an enemy tribesman.Now, using advanced nanotechnology, they have located traces of Ötzi's blood, the oldest blood sample ever retrieved. The discovery sheds new light on his death and may change the way police study blood found at modern crime scenes."Up to now there had been uncertainty about how long blood could survive, let...
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