Care for a peek inside the mysteries of mumification?

Swiss mummy makers have sent a human leg into the afterlife, but it hasn’t exactly gone like clockwork.  Plus, will their analysis of the degrading effects of mummi-fication on DNA prove more bitter than sweet for the genetic mapping of Tutankhamun’s family?

The Swiss Mummy Project has succeeded, more or less, in mummifying a human leg, although there is still some moisture present in the tissue, which has pushed the 70-day project into 80 days, with another month expected before the project is complete.  Check out Heritage Key for the complete story, where I blog about it under my daytime name, Keith Payne:  The Mummy Project: Swiss Anatomy Experts Mummify Human Leg.

The Swiss team will also be evaluating the effects of mummification on DNA, and whether or not degradation may be a factor in the genetic testing of mummies.  So far the testing of deep and dense tissue, such as teeth and bones, seems to be fruitful, but unlike hieroglyphs, science is never written in stone.  Revision is the rule, not the exception. 

How will this portent for forensic mummy studies?  Increased accuracy is always good for science in general, and so far it looks as if the science behind the genetic mummy studies will stand the test of time.  As for the collateral damage to specific projects and theories, only time will tell.

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Tags: Forensic Mummy Studies, Genetic Mapping, Mummies, Mummification, Swiss Mummy Project, Tutankhamun