Molecular Genetic Analyses of the Tyrolean Ice Man

• DOI: 10.1126/science.8209259
• Publication Date: 2006-10-06T00:01:25Z
• Authors: Oliva Handt; Martin Richards; Marion Trommsdorff; Christian Kilger; Jaana Simanainen; Oleg Georgiev; Karin Bauer; Anne Stone; Robert Hedges; Walter Schaffner; Gerd Utermann; Bryan Sykes; Svante Pääbo
• Keywords: Hypervariable region; mtDNA control region; Sequence (biology)

An approximately 5000-year-old mummified human body was recently found in the Tyrolean Alps. The DNA from tissue samples of this Late Neolithic individual, so-called "Ice Man," has been extracted and analyzed. number molecules surviving on order 10 genome equivalents per gram tissue, which meant that only multi-copy sequences could be degradation made enzymatic amplification mitochondrial fragments more than 100 to 200 base pairs difficult. One sequence a hypervariable segment control region determined independently two different laboratories internal body. This showed type Ice Man fits into genetic variation contemporary Europeans it most closely related types central northern European populations.