Move 3 Egyptian mummies to check DNA

The Egyptian government recently announced that three mummies have been transferred from the Valley of the Kings in Luxor to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo for extensive research on their origins.

Two mummies discovered in a symbolic grave KV21 and a male mummy discovered outside the tomb of pharaoh Seti II, the ruler of Egypt from 1200 to 1194 BC, will have to spread through CAT scans and DNA analysis.

Such tests can tell researchers the ancestors of these mysterious mummies and reveal their identities, although it will take years before scientists can claim anything. sure.

Even so, the female mummies promised them the possibility of being among the Egyptian queens that archaeologists were looking for.

Both mummies are found in the royal posture for women: the left hand folds at the elbow, the hand clenches the chest cross and the right hand stretches along the body.

According to Zahi Hawass, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Egyptian Archeology, 'We will try to understand two female mummies at Tomb KV21, as we are searching for Tutankhamun's genealogy through the Egyptian Mummy Project. . '

This project is a five-year plan initiated by Hawass to test and classify each mummy's DNA across the country.'Maybe one of them is Nefertiti or Tiye or Kiya, we don't know yet.'

Traces of DNA

A group of Egyptian experts will test the genes of mummies in a laboratory that Hawass claims to be the only DNA laboratory in the world dedicated to the study of mummies.

According to Angelique Corthals, a professor of biochemistry and forensic science at the University of Manchester, UK, who trains an Egyptian team, the best way to study ancient genes is to test mitochondrial DNA.

This type of DNA is passed from mother to child and contains thousands of copies of genetic information in each cell. Comparing mitochondrial DNA from an unidentified mummy with genetic code from a identified mummy can establish a family relationship.

But technology restricts researchers to track the flow of a mummy through the mother's bloodline, which is not possible in many cases. So instead, the Egyptian team examined male mummy's DNA - only one copy of each cell's genetic code could be detected from either parent.

This thorough inspection process is also difficult due to the mummy DNA contamination over time and from chemicals used during mummification.

Corthals said 'DNA patterns are not only destroyed because they are really old, but because of the embalming process. It's ironic when what preserves the mummy's appearance destroys DNA. '

Some queens of the 18th dynasty, which lasted from 1550 to 1069 BC, and before Tutankhamun's reign, were still unidentified. Among these were Kiya, possibly Tutankhamun's mother, and thus shared his true DNA with him. Queen Nefertiti, the first wife of Tutankhamun and Tiye's father, Tutankhamun's grandmother, has not been discovered.

The king put the wrong place

The Egyptian government recently announced that three mummies were transferred from the Valley of the Kings in Luxor to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo for extensive research on their origins.Some experts have a hunch that a male mummy (pictured in 2005) among these three bodies was pharaoh Thutmose I, who ruled Egypt from 1504 to 1492, and was the father of Queen Hatshepsut.(Photo: Mohamed Megahed)

Scientists will study male-inspired mummies that belong to Thutmose I, who ruled from 1504 to 1492 AD, and is the father of Queen Hatshepsut.

A mummy is displayed at the Egyptian Museum called Thutmose I, but recent tests revealed that the mummy was mistakenly identified.'We found that the mummy at the museum died at the age of 30 and Thutmose I died at the age of 50. He was not a royal mummy.'

In 2007, Corthals and Egyptian scientists conducted tests on female mummies believed to be Hatshepsut. Scientists will compare DNA with the recently discovered mummy, but they insist that making the link will be difficult because the genealogy of Thutmose I is unclear.

People do not know his father and his mother were called Seniseneb, a common name of her time.

The figure shows that Thutmose I married his sister Ahmose, perhaps named after the first pharaoh of the 18th dynasty. But her exact parents are still suspected.

'People in the genealogy are not always clear. You can check for a friend who is supposed to be a mother, but after all she's not. '

In general, Corthals said, the results from ancient DNA testing are not always certain.

'In the most successful cases, you can only be sure of the maximum, if you are lucky, it is 90% with mitochondrial DNA, but the problem is there. To this day no work has been published that succeeds in extracting and comparing ancient human DNA from mummies with the aim of studying the family in the clan. '