近日，英國科學(xué)家揭開了4000年前埃及木乃伊的一個巨大謎團：英國曼徹斯特博物館有名的“倆兄弟”木乃伊實際上擁有不同的父親，也就是說他們是同母異父的半兄弟。曼徹斯特大學(xué)信息顯示，該校研究團隊使用的是第二代DNA測序技術(shù)（又稱“高通量測序”），相關(guān)成果發(fā)表在有名考古期刊《考古科學(xué)》（Journal of Archaeological Science）。

這“倆兄弟”是曼徹斯特博物館中zui古老的木乃伊，也是埃及古物學(xué)收藏中有名的人體遺骸。他們分別是兩名男性，Khnum-nakht和Nakht-ankh，歷史則可追溯至公元前1800年。

基因測序揭開埃及木乃伊血緣

讓這“倆兄弟”問世的是20世紀早期的埃及古物學(xué)家Flinders Petrie 和Ernest Mackay指導(dǎo)下的埃及工人，他們在1907年發(fā)現(xiàn)了這兩具木乃伊，地點是在開羅以南250公里處的一個叫Deir Rifeh的村莊。

這兩具木乃伊被命名為“倆兄弟”的原因則是當時被發(fā)現(xiàn)的時候他們是合葬在一起。棺材上的象形文字碑文提示，這兩個人都是當?shù)匾晃幻植辉數(shù)墓賳T的兒子，而他們的母親則同名，都叫 Khnum-aa。也就是從那時候起，這兩兄弟便以“倆兄弟”被人熟知。

然而，自1907年“倆兄弟”被發(fā)現(xiàn)以來，埃及古物學(xué)者中一直存在一種爭議：他們是否真正相關(guān)？

實際上，就在這兩具木乃伊被發(fā)現(xiàn)的第二年，也就是1908年，墳?zāi)怪兴械奈锲繁贿\至曼徹斯特，兩具木乃伊也由英國*位職業(yè)女性埃及古物學(xué)家Margaret Murray博士打開。Murra團隊通過大不相同的骨骼形態(tài)學(xué)推斷，兩者或許并不存在家庭關(guān)系。結(jié)合當時碑文的證據(jù)，團隊認為“倆兄弟”中的一位是領(lǐng)養(yǎng)的。

直到2015年，科學(xué)家從他們的牙齒中提取了“古老DNA”，以期真正揭開這一謎底，結(jié)束爭議。

科學(xué)家從兩具木乃伊的牙齒中提取DNA，在線粒體和Y染色體片段的雜交捕獲后，通過高通量DNA測序技術(shù)進行測序。分析表明，Nakht-Ankh和Khnum-Nakht都屬于線粒體單體型M1a1，這也就暗示了母體的關(guān)系。Y染色體序列雖然不完整但表明兩具木乃伊之間存在差異，這暗示Nakht-Ankh和Khnum-Nakht有不同的父親，因此很可能是半兄弟。這也是是*例成功使用線粒體和Y染色體DNA在埃及木乃伊中分型的研究。

主持這項基因測序工作的是曼徹斯特大學(xué)地球與環(huán)境科學(xué)學(xué)院Konstantina Drosou教授。Drosou表示，“這是一項漫長而又耗費精力的工作，但zui終我們獲得了結(jié)果。我很欣慰我們能夠為這個巨大的歷史謎團新添一塊很小但很重要的拼圖，我確信‘倆兄弟’會為我們感到自豪，這是我們相信古代DNA的時刻。”

The emergence of gene sequencing technology is helping archaeologists to have the courage to reopen some of the long dusty mysteries.

Recently, British scientists opened 4000 years ago, Egyptian mummy a huge mystery: Manchester Museum of the famous British "brothers" Mummy actually has a different father, that is to say they are half brothers and half. University of Manchester official website information shows that the school's research team used the second generation of DNA sequencing technology (also known as "high-throughput sequencing"), and the related results were published in the international famous archaeological Journal Journal of Archaeological Science.

The "two brothers" are the oldest mummies in the Manchester Museum and the most famous human remains in the Egyptian antiquities collection. They are two men, Khnum-nakht and Nakht-ankh, and history dates back to 1800 BC.

Gene sequencing uncovers the blood of Egyptian mummies

The "two brothers" came out of Egypt in the early twentieth Century under the guidance of Flinders Petrie and Ernest Mackay. They found the two mummies in 1907, located in a village called "Deir Rifeh" 250 kilometers south of Cairo.

The two mummies were named "cause brothers" is found when they are buried together. The pictographic inscriptions on the coffin indicate that the two men are sons of a local official whose name is unknown, while their mother is called Khnum-aa. From that time, the two brothers were well known by the "two brothers".

However, since the discovery of "two brothers" in 1907, there has been a dispute among Egyptians in Egypt: are they really related?

In fact, in the second years when the two mummy was discovered, in 1908, all the articles in the tomb were transported to Manchester. The two mummy was also opened by the first British professional woman, Dr. Margaret Murray, an Egyptian archaeologist. The Murra team deduced from the different skeletal morphology that there might be no family relationships between the two. In combination with the evidence of the inscription at the time, the team believed that one of the two brothers was adopted.

Until 2015, scientists extracted the "old DNA" from their teeth to truly uncover the mystery and end the dispute.

The scientists extracted DNA from two mummified teeth, and sequenced it through high throughput DNA sequencing after the hybridization of mitochondrial and Y chromosome fragments. The analysis shows that both Nakht-Ankh and Khnum-Nakht belong to the mitochondrial haplotype M1a1, which suggests the maternal relationship. Although the Y chromosome sequence is incomplete, it indicates that there are differences between two mummies. This implies that Nakht-Ankh and Khnum-Nakht have different fathers, so they are probably half brothers. This is the first study of the successful use of mitochondrial and Y chromosome DNA in Egyptian mummies.

The gene sequencing was conducted by Professor Konstantina Drosou of the school of earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Manchester. Drosou said, "it's a long and exhausting job, but eventually we get the result. I'm glad we can for the history of this great mystery added a very small but very important puzzle, I believe that the "two brothers" will be proud of us, we believe that this is the ancient times DNA."

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