Scientists Just Made Sourdough From A 5,300 Year Old Mummy

Scientists just made sourdough from a 5,300 year old mummy. And apparently it was very good.

Otzi the Iceman was found frozen in the Alps in 1991, had his microbiome studied by researchers who found something completely unexpected inside and on his body. Yeast. Multiple strains of it too.

But the actually useful finding is that three of those strains survived by eating phenol, the chemical used to preserve Otzi’s body. Phenol is highly toxic. Current cleanup methods after spills are expensive