Scientists bake sourdough bread with yeast from 5,300-year-old mummy
Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.
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- Scientists have successfully baked sourdough bread using yeast cultivated from the gut of Ötzi the Iceman, a mummy over 5,300 years old.
- The mummy, discovered in 1991 in the Italian Alps, has been preserved at sub-zero temperatures and found to host living, metabolically active microorganisms.
- This discovery offers insights into ancient human microbiomes and raises questions about the long-term preservation of ancient remains.
Scientists have achieved a remarkable feat by baking sourdough bread using yeast extracted from the digestive tract of Ötzi the Iceman, a mummy dating back over 5,300 years. The ancient man was discovered by German hikers in 1991 in the Italian Schnal Valley glacier and has been kept in a frozen state at minus six degrees Celsius since his discovery.
His body hosts living, metabolically capable organisms that are actively responding to their environment.
An Italian research team recently published findings in the Microbiome journal, revealing the presence of both ancient and modern microbial life still active within the mummy's body. "His body hosts living, metabolically capable organisms that are actively responding to their environment," stated Sarhan, a member of the research team. The study identified cold-adapted yeasts that are actively growing, alongside certain bacteria that have persisted in his tissues for decades.
The mummy is, in a very real sense, a living biological interface - a meeting point between the ancient world and the present, where microbes from 5,000 years ago coexist with organisms that arrived last decade.
This unique preservation has turned the mummy into a "living biological interface," bridging the ancient and present worlds. Microbes from 5,000 years ago coexist with organisms that arrived more recently. The ancient gut bacteria provide a rare window into the intestinal ecosystem of a Copper Age human, predating the transformations brought about by industrialization, antibiotics, and processed foods.
If you tell anyone you have yeast, they immediately ask: Can we use it for bread?
Beyond historical insights, the discovery that cold-loving yeasts are actively growing on Ötzi also raises significant questions for conservation science regarding the mummy's long-term integrity. While the immediate focus was on baking bread, researchers also noted the potential for using the ancient yeast to brew beer, though the published study concentrated on more immediate applications of their discovery.
had a very, very good sourdough.
DistantNews Editorial
Originally published by Jerusalem Post in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.
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