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Medici family mystery may be solved after more than 400 years

cnn.com

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Re: Medici family mystery may be solved after more than 400 years

#42

Post by prmph »

toyg wrote: post #26
prmph wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in Ghana, we have malaria as a common (not too common though) ailment. I have also had malaria several times, though the last time was almost 9 years ago. As I understand it, some malaria parasites can remain dormant in the body for a long time. Clinical symptoms develop once the parasite burden and immune response become sufficient to cause illness. Not sure if the couple had made trips to Tuscany before the…

> Not sure if the couple had made trips to Tuscany before Dude, they were the royal family of Tuscany. They lived there. Which is why this test is not conclusive: sure, they had malaria, but at the time it was pretty common in the region and they likely had it for a long time.

Sorry, I meant if the couple were regular visitors to those areas in Tuscany known for malaria. I do agree that this test is still inconclusive, which was the point of my original comment.

From TFA:

> “Francesco and Giovanni, a young member of the family, both traveled 25 years apart to areas of Tuscany which were known for malaria,” Giuffra said.

“The court physicians tried to discourage some members of the Medici family from doing these trips, especially in autumn, which was a season particularly favorable for malaria...”

Re: Medici family mystery may be solved after more than 400 years

#46

Post by colingauvin »

prmph wrote: post #23
colingauvin wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, which is why the immunological tests done in 2006 were not seen as conclusive. However, this time they found actual plasmodium DNA which suggests active infection at time of death. Including from two species, suggesting double infection. Fun.

I live in Ghana, we have malaria as a common (not too common though) ailment. I have also had malaria several times, though the last time was almost 9 years ago. As I understand it, some malaria parasites can remain dormant in the body for a long time. Clinical symptoms develop once the parasite burden and immune response become sufficient to cause illness. Not sure if the couple had made trips to Tuscany before the…

Your comment is a stark reminder that I take for granted that the single biggest killer of human beings in history is simply something I don't have to think about. For some reason, I'd have thought there'd be no overlap between HN commenters and malaria - shows my blind spot.

If what you say is accurate (that malaria can remain dormant) then I agree that I don't see how DNA is proof of how they died. Certainly, regardless of how they died the malaria didn't help, and a double infection is likely even worse, but yeah if you have it chronically then DNA alone is insufficient.

Re: Medici family mystery may be solved after more than 400 years

#48

Post by z2 »

boringg wrote: post #45
fragmede wrote: post #32

In related news, tiny drones to take out mosquitoes. https://tornyol.com

The energy balance on that makes no sense. You will be zerg swarmed.

Yeah, we're talking hundreds to thousands of mosquitoes per 1/10 of an acre, many or most of which are actually not actively flying, right? I can only see this working for dragonflies where the mosquito is the energy source.

Re: Medici family mystery may be solved after more than 400 years

#49

Post by terribleperson »

boringg wrote: post #45
fragmede wrote: post #32

In related news, tiny drones to take out mosquitoes. https://tornyol.com

The energy balance on that makes no sense. You will be zerg swarmed.

I don't know that energy balance makes a difference here. Slapping a mosquito probably takes more energy than a mosquito uses in an hour of flight, but we do it.

Re: Medici family mystery may be solved after more than 400 years

#50

Post by yieldcrv »

dombiscoff wrote: post #28
yieldcrv wrote: post #20

what a mess, what is the significance of resolving this? land claims? title? access to frozen assets? recarving borders? treaties?

I too am astounded by humanities desire to know things without a monetary benefit. Don't they understand the money spent on this could've gone to a vulture capital?

I see, and thats not my point

proving the strains of malaria was interesting

proving whether they died from arsenic or malaria isn’t, unless its of consequence half a millenia later

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