Ancient DNA methodology continues to advance.

The history of Ötzi research is a history of each new generation of technology revealing something the previous generation missed or got wrong.

The 2012 genome missed contamination that the 2023 genome identified.

The 2023 genome may have its own limitations that future methodologies will reveal or correct.

Beyond genetics, research on the mummy itself continues across multiple disciplines.

Microbiome analysis — the study of the complex community of microorganisms in and on the human body — has become a major field since Ötzi’s discovery, and researchers are applying increasingly sophisticated methods to understand the microbial community that was preserved with him.

Proteomics — the study of proteins rather than DNA — offers another window into ancient biology that may yield findings the genomics alone cannot provide.