メディチ家遺骨の遺伝子解析でルネサンス期マラリア株を解明（Genetic Analysis of Medicis’ Remains Reveals Renaissance-Era Malaria Strains — and Closes Book on a Murder Mystery）

2026-06-30 イェール大学

＜関連情報＞

• https://news.yale.edu/2026/06/30/genetic-analysis-medicis-remains-reveals-renaissance-era-malaria-strains-and-closes-book
• https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(26)01746-3

メディチ家（16世紀）の遺骨の古代DNA分析により、熱帯熱マラリア原虫の遺伝的変異に関する知見が得られた Ancient DNA analyses of remains of the Medici family (16th century) provide insights into the genetic variation of Plasmodium falciparum

Alexander Ochoa ∙ Samantha L. Miller ∙ Patrick F. Reilly ∙ … ∙ Valentina Giuffra ∙ Adalgisa Caccone ∙ Serena Tucci

iScience  Published:June 17, 2026

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2026.116371

Highlights

• Detected ancient Plasmodium DNA in 16^th century Medici family osteological remains
• Grand Duke Francesco I de’ Medici had traces of P. falciparum and P. malariae
• Cardinal Giovanni de’ Medici had a previously uncharacterized P. falciparum strain
• The previously uncharacterized P. falciparum strain has two unique mutations

Summary

We evaluated the presence of six Plasmodium species in osteological remains from Grand Duke Francesco I de’ Medici (GDFIDM; 1541–1587) and Cardinal Giovanni de’ Medici (CGDM; 1543–1562). Targeted enrichment sequencing for mitochondrial genomes recovered 1,865 and 185 base pairs (bp) of P. falciparum from CGDM and GDFIDM, respectively, and 43 bp of P. malariae from GDFIDM. The CGDM P. falciparum sequence represents a previously uncharacterized haplotype with two unique mutations in intergenic and cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 loci. Network analyses using nine additional ancient samples (Iron Age– 1940s) suggest that this haplotype is closely related to six sequences from Europe, Taiwan, and the Caribbean; the haplotype likely originated from a demographic expansion in Europe. Our study discovered a previously uncharacterized P. falciparum strain from the Italian Renaissance, increasing our knowledge of the diversity of this species and underscoring the use of ancient DNA for the detection and diagnosis of malaria.