The Iceman’s Genome, New-Age Foot Care

Abstract

The complete genome sequence of Otzi the Iceman was reported on Feb. 28 in Nature Communications (DOI: 10.1038/ncomms1701). Recall that Otzi lived about 5,300 years ago and was found mummified with an arrowhead stuck in his back in a snowy mountain pass in Italy in 1991. According to the genomic analysis, Otzi had brown eyes, type O+ blood, a predisposition to cardiovascular disease, possibly Lyme disease, and was lactose intolerant. That the iceman was lactose intolerant gives the Newscripts gang food for thought. Lactose intolerance arises from the inability to produce enough of the enzyme lactase to metabolize lactose, the disaccharide sugar found in milk. Symptoms might not be noticeable, but at the extreme they involve unpleasant digestive distress after consuming milk or milk products. Most mammals lose the ability to digest milk after weaning. But the gene coding for adult human lactase production arose in Europe about 7,000 years ...