It’s like the best—and oldest—episode of CSI ever imagined, and they finally have some blood to send to the lab.
The most ancient red blood cells known to man have been discovered in the 5,300-year-old body of the ice man Oetzi.
Researchers have long been looking for blood in the famous mummy discovered in the Italian Alps by hikers in 1991. But using a method called atomic force microscopy and a new laser procedure known as Raman spectroscopy, scientists finally found the classic doughnut-shaped red blood cells in a sample of tissue taken from around the deadly arrow wound in Oetzi’s back.
The discovery is especially exciting because the new methods could eventually be used in modern forensics to help find the age of blood samples.
Scientists had previously determined Oetzi’s last meal, his brown eye color, and recently published the ice man’s full genome. Next, maybe they can figure out whether he was an AC Milan or InterMilan fan.
Video produced by Krishnan Vasuvedan.
