DNA Analysis Solves 400-Year-Old Medici Family Mystery
Medici family mystery may be solved after more than 400 years
For centuries, rumors claimed Grand Duke Francesco I de' Medici and his wife were murdered by arsenic. Now, ancient DNA analysis from their skeletal remains confirms they died of malaria, not poison. This groundbreaking study, led by researchers from Yale and the University of Pisa, finally settles the debate by identifying genetic traces of the parasite in their bones, though some historians still argue poisoning could have accelerated their deaths.
DNA is certain. It solves the problem and the doubts. I think this is a definitive answer.
- lormayna
I am living in Poggio a Caiano and I never expect it will be mentioned on HN.
I know very well the history of Bianca Cappello and I am not surprised about the malaria. The area around Poggio a Caiano (Poggio means exactly "small hills") was a swamp and malaria was very common.
- fragmede
In related news, tiny drones to take out mosquitoes.
- bell-cot
tl;dr; - Scientists did DNA testing on the remains of the Grand Duke and his wife, and found malaria. The rival theory is poisoning by the relative who was next in line for the Ducal throne. HOWEVER, this test result solves nothing:
> But is there any guarantee that Francesco was not also poisoned?
> “Perhaps not,” Ochoa said, “but the genetic evidence presented in our study decreases the margin for speculation.”
> Gisella Caccone, a senior research scientist also at Yale and a study coauthor, agrees. “We can say that they had malaria, we cannot say that they were not poisoned as well,” Caccone said in an email.
- yieldcrv
what a mess, what is the significance of resolving this? land claims? title? access to frozen assets? recarving borders? treaties?
- DaveZale
so interesting.
I worked for a very small company getting funding by the Medici Fund a while back. First I ever heard of the name.
So much intrigue in the past. Guys like Montaigne were said to have "food tasters" to sample the goods before they ate themselves.
As a career trace analytical chemist, I can tell you for sure, that weird poisonings are so much less likely to occur now, because of the probability of detection. That's a little comforting. The same goes for the food supply. Mechanisms are in place to rapidly detect deliberately placed poisons.