Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – @BednarChuck
Thanks to some cutting-edge technology, researchers from the European Academy of Bozen (EURAC) in Italy have discovered the oldest-known blood cells, using a nano-sized probe to find erythrocytes on the body of the 5,300-year-old mummy known as Ötzi the Iceman.
Originally recovered from an Alpine glacier along the Austrian-Italian border in 1991, Ötzi has been the subject of extensive postmortem research and forensic investigation since the recovery, according to National Geographic. While no blood residue had previously been detected, many other details of his death (due in part to being shot with an arrow) were unearthed.
Albert Zink, head of the EURAC Institute for Mummies and the Iceman, explained that previous analysis had found “no traces” of blood, “even when they opened some arteries… it was thought maybe the blood had not preserved and had completely degraded, or that he lost too much blood because of the arrow injury” on his back, he added.
However, by using the probe to trace Ötzi’s wound areas, and recording those movements with a laser, Zink and his colleagues were able to find classic “doughnut shape” red blood cells on the Stone Age corpse. The findings represent the “oldest clear evidence for red blood cells,” he said.
Ötzi’s death came quickly
Previous research had suggested evidence of prehistoric blood on tools and other artifacts from the era, but as National Geographic explained, those studies carried with them a high degree of uncertainty due to the structural similarity of red blood cells to bacteria and pollen. By using a laser to illuminate the wounds, Zink’s team confirmed their molecular composition.
“The morphological and molecular composition of the blood corpuscle is verified by atomic force microscope and Raman spectroscopy measurements,” they wrote in a paper published in Wednesday in the journal Journal of the Royal Society: Interface. “The cell size and shape approximated those of healthy, dried, recent RBCs. Raman spectra of the ancient corpuscle revealed bands that are characteristic of haemoglobin.”
“Additional vibrational modes typical for other proteinaceous fragments, possibly fibrin, suggested the formation of a blood clot. The band intensities, however, were approximately an order of magnitude weaker than those of recent RBCs,” they added. “This fact points to a decrease in the RBC-specific metalloprotein haemoglobin and, thus, to a degradation of the cells. Together, the results show the preservation of RBCs in the 5000 year old mummy tissue.”
Since fibrin, a blood-clotting agent, is formed immediately when a person’s body is wounded, then disappears, finding the agent in the arrow would suggests that Ötzi’s died shortly after he was shot, Zink explained. This indicates that the Iceman died a quick death and “definitely” did not survive “a few hours or a few days” after first being shot with the projectile, he added.
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