Summary Forensic scientist used advanced DNA sequencing technology.
(Web Desk) – A century-long mystery over the identity of a 4,000-year-old Egyptian mummy has finally been solved by the FBI.
According to British newspaper reports, since 1915, scientists have puzzled over the severed head discovered in the corner of a looted tomb in Deit el-Bersha, an ancient Egyptian necropolis.
Archaeologists worked out the tomb belonged to a governor called Djehutynakht and his wife, but were unable to decipher whether the head was male or female.
It took a forensic scientist at the FBI, using advanced DNA sequencing technology, to say definitely that the head belonged to the governor himself.
Odile Loreille, an FBI biologist, drilled into a tooth extracted from the skull, collected the powder and dissolved it in a chemical solution.
She then ran the solution through a DNA copy machine followed by a sequencing instrument. By checking the ratio of sex chromosomes, she was able to deduce that the skull was male.
