The 2023 Reanalysis: Setting The Record Straight

The high-coverage reanalysis of Ötzi’s genome, published on August 16, 2023, in the journal Cell Genomics, represented the state of the art in ancient DNA work as of that date.

The research was conducted by a team from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany — Johannes Krause’s institution, whose ancient DNA research program had produced some of the most important results in the field including major contributions to the understanding of Neanderthal and Denisovan genetics — and the Institute for Mummy Studies of Eurac Research in Bolzano, Italy, the institution most closely associated with the long-term scientific study of the Ötzi mummy.

The new analysis used dramatically improved sequencing technology and much more sophisticated methods for detecting and excluding contaminating modern DNA.