New method detects lung infection in 500-year-old mummy

A 500-year-old frozen Incan mummy suffered bacterial lung infection at the time of its death, as revealed by a novel proteomics method in an ancient sample for the very first time. Detecting diseases in ancient remains is often fraught with challenges, especially because of contamination. Techniques based on microbe DNA can easily be confused by environmental contamination, and they can only confirm that the pathogen was present, not that the person was infected. But the researchers behind the study, led by Angelique Corthals of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York, found a way around this problem, the journal Public Library of Science ONE reports. Click here for full story