From Mummies to Modern Man

From Ötzi, the Tyrolean Iceman, to the royal mummies of pharaohs Akhenaten and Tutankhamun, genetic and genomic analyses of ancient deoxyribonucleic acid have shed light on the social and environmental influences on life and longevity, population dynamics, migratory patterns, dietary habits, putative and actual causes of death, and the susceptibility to congenital and acquired diseases during life more than 5,000 years ago [1–3]. For example, detailed analysis of the Ötzi genome demonstrated the presence of several single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with increased risk for coronary heart disease, ischemic stroke, sudden cardiac death, and general atherosclerosis [4]. The full impact and clinical manifestations of these genetic variants were likely not experienced because of the short life expectancy at that time. Several articles in this issue of Global Heart on mummies provide intriguing details on the value of genomic analyses and correlates in atherosclerosis and other diseases in ancient humans. [5–10]