5 ms·

Genetic analysis of tiny mummified skeleton from the Atacama Desert

62 points by snake117 9y ago

sampo 9y ago
Just noting that the mummy is very recent, perhaps 50 years old. (Not a 50 years old person, but born and mummified about 50 years ago.) "Ata was stillborn or died immediately after her birth, perhaps 40 years before her remains were discovered." https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/mar/22/genetic-tests-reveal-tragic-reality-of-atacama-alien-skeleton https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/mar/22/genetic-test...
- sho_hn 9y ago
  That contradicts this article.
  - tedmiston 9y ago
    Not necessarily, on age at least. The article just states: > After death, DNA disintegrates into fragments, which become smaller over the centuries. Ata’s DNA fragments are still large, another clue that she’s less than 500 years old.
- gwern 9y ago
  Carbon-dating and other forensic methods should be able to nail that down much more precisely. If nothing else, at some point, national DNA databases will pinpoint the fetus's relatives.
- flashman 9y ago
  The only thing I can find on the age is "younger than 500 years": > the average DNA fragment size for Ata is ∼300 bp which, based on a DNA-decay model (Allentoft et al. 2012), is consistent with a sample younger than 500 yr. https://genome.cshlp.org/content/early/2018/03/21/gr.223693.117.full.pdf+html https://genome.cshlp.org/content/early/2018/03/21/gr.223693....
ggg9990 9y ago
Warning: photo of dead baby at top of linked article.
steve19 9y ago
I always had assumed it was a very clever hoax, now my heart bleeds for the poor little girl and her mother. Hopefully she will be reburied.
pvaldes 9y ago
mmh... I'm unsure about what to think. Reduced ribs, crest and pelvis shape suggest more a small monkey without tail than a human to me. Is too tiny for having calcified bones yet. Some things suggest human foetus, not stillborn. Other are not easy to explain.
vadimberman 9y ago
> Ata’s bones contain DNA that not only shows she was human The fact that there's a DNA already means it's not an alien, doesn't it? Having a life form with the same uber-complex chain of nucleotides as the life on earth developed is as improbable as a server on an alien mothership being compatible with a Macbook. (Quick primer on the subject: https://www.airspacemag.com/daily-planet/cracking-aliens-genetic-code-180964124/ https://www.airspacemag.com/daily-planet/cracking-aliens-gen...) Having said that, the NYT article reads like the researchers are still unable to explain the discrepancies between the age and the well-formed skeleton as well as the number of mutations. Were there any secret nuclear tests conducted half a century ago in Chile? But that would also probably be insufficient to cause all that. I would bet on experiments trying to cause deliberate mutations.
- seiferteric 9y ago
  Not if you believe in panspermia.
  - vadimberman 9y ago
    It depends on the kind of panspermia. If it's about generic organic molecules then the DNA is a local construct. If it's about microorganisms, then it's different.
    - seiferteric 9y ago
      True. It's also possible that DNA is the only form of life that really works, but we just don't know yet.
      - lovemenot 9y ago
        There's 6-base pair organisms now. https://www.sciencealert.com/new-organisms-have-been-formed-using-the-first-ever-6-letter-genetic-code https://www.sciencealert.com/new-organisms-have-been-formed-... Also, RNA seems to work and it's possible we started out using RNA and later evolved to DNA.
- 9y ago
trhway 9y ago
not directly related, just by association - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_cranial_deformation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_cranial_deformation - i imagine that would be a one source of alien legends (not that i don't believe in aliens myself :) One of the references in the article is about such practice dating back to Neanderthals (https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/202808 https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/202808)
anfilt 9y ago
Pictures I have seen before always made me think that skeleton was a hoax. At least the Alien lunacy has been put to rest. Although, I bet there will be some people who would not believe the results.

62 points by snake117 9y ago

Just noting that the mummy is very recent, perhaps 50 years old. (Not a 50 years old person, but born and mummified about 50 years ago.) "Ata was stillborn or died immediately after her birth, perhaps 40 years before her remains were discovered." https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/mar/22/genetic-tests-reveal-tragic-reality-of-atacama-alien-skeleton https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/mar/22/genetic-test...

sho_hn 9y ago
That contradicts this article.
- tedmiston 9y ago
  Not necessarily, on age at least. The article just states: > After death, DNA disintegrates into fragments, which become smaller over the centuries. Ata’s DNA fragments are still large, another clue that she’s less than 500 years old.
gwern 9y ago
Carbon-dating and other forensic methods should be able to nail that down much more precisely. If nothing else, at some point, national DNA databases will pinpoint the fetus's relatives.
flashman 9y ago
The only thing I can find on the age is "younger than 500 years": > the average DNA fragment size for Ata is ∼300 bp which, based on a DNA-decay model (Allentoft et al. 2012), is consistent with a sample younger than 500 yr. https://genome.cshlp.org/content/early/2018/03/21/gr.223693.117.full.pdf+html https://genome.cshlp.org/content/early/2018/03/21/gr.223693....

ggg9990 9y ago

Warning: photo of dead baby at top of linked article.

steve19 9y ago

I always had assumed it was a very clever hoax, now my heart bleeds for the poor little girl and her mother. Hopefully she will be reburied.

pvaldes 9y ago

mmh... I'm unsure about what to think. Reduced ribs, crest and pelvis shape suggest more a small monkey without tail than a human to me. Is too tiny for having calcified bones yet. Some things suggest human foetus, not stillborn. Other are not easy to explain.

vadimberman 9y ago

> Ata’s bones contain DNA that not only shows she was human The fact that there's a DNA already means it's not an alien, doesn't it? Having a life form with the same uber-complex chain of nucleotides as the life on earth developed is as improbable as a server on an alien mothership being compatible with a Macbook. (Quick primer on the subject: https://www.airspacemag.com/daily-planet/cracking-aliens-genetic-code-180964124/ https://www.airspacemag.com/daily-planet/cracking-aliens-gen...) Having said that, the NYT article reads like the researchers are still unable to explain the discrepancies between the age and the well-formed skeleton as well as the number of mutations. Were there any secret nuclear tests conducted half a century ago in Chile? But that would also probably be insufficient to cause all that. I would bet on experiments trying to cause deliberate mutations.

seiferteric 9y ago
Not if you believe in panspermia.
- vadimberman 9y ago
  It depends on the kind of panspermia. If it's about generic organic molecules then the DNA is a local construct. If it's about microorganisms, then it's different.
  - seiferteric 9y ago
    True. It's also possible that DNA is the only form of life that really works, but we just don't know yet.
    - lovemenot 9y ago
      There's 6-base pair organisms now. https://www.sciencealert.com/new-organisms-have-been-formed-using-the-first-ever-6-letter-genetic-code https://www.sciencealert.com/new-organisms-have-been-formed-... Also, RNA seems to work and it's possible we started out using RNA and later evolved to DNA.
9y ago

trhway 9y ago

not directly related, just by association - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_cranial_deformation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_cranial_deformation - i imagine that would be a one source of alien legends (not that i don't believe in aliens myself :) One of the references in the article is about such practice dating back to Neanderthals (https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/202808 https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/202808)

anfilt 9y ago

Pictures I have seen before always made me think that skeleton was a hoax. At least the Alien lunacy has been put to rest. Although, I bet there will be some people who would not believe the results.