The first study: Researchers were able to analyze a segment of oetzi mitochondrial DNA in this study.
They determined that he belonged to the genetic group (called a haplogroup by DNA researchers) known as K, a group to which about 8 percent of modern Europeans belong. The K haplogroup has two lineages or sub-groups (called subhaplogroups) identified as K-1 and K-2. Researchers in the early study also determined that the Iceman belonged to the K-1 subhaplogroup.
This finding suggested that many people (who share the K-1 subhaplogroup) shared a common female ancestor with oetzi.
The second study (2008): The new study, according to biologist Franco Rollo of the University of Camerino, Italy, provides "the oldest complete human mitochondrial DNA sequence generated to date."
In this study, researchers retrieved a complete version of oetzi mitochondrial DNA. Although they, too, found that
oetzi belonged to the K-1 subhaplogroup, the analysis went further. The K-1 subhaplogroup has three branches or clusters (
K1a, K1b, and K1c--all found in the modern European population). The new study revealed that oetzi belonged to a previously
unidentified cluster (now called
K1ö, for oetzi).
According to researchers Rollo, as quoted on medicalnewstoday.com, "This doesn't simply mean that oetzi had some 'personal' mutations making him different from the others but that, in the past, there was a group - a branch of the phylogenetic tree - of men and women sharing the same mitochondrial DNA. Apparently, this genetic group is no longer present. We don't know whether it is extinct or it has become extremely rare." Another researcher, Martin Richards, a professor of biology at the University of Leeds in northern England, added, "Our research suggests that oetzi's lineage may indeed have become extinct."
Bookmarks