Mystery solved thanks to genetic analysis! Chilean mini mummy was not an alien!

We received inquiries about an article about a mini skeleton:

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Source: CNN

Many claim that the mini skeleton is an alien mummy.

So are we dealing with an alien or not?

Not an alien! This little mummy is a human!

About 15 years ago, the tiny humanoid skeleton (called Ata) was discovered in the Atacama region of Chile. Ata's remains were found in 2003 in La Noria, an old nitrate mining town, reportedly wrapped in white cloth and tied with a purple ribbon.

It soon became known as the Chilean Alien Mummy. Even a “documentary” was made about his supposed extraterrestrial origins.

The mini-skeleton, which is only 15cm long, has a strange stature, fewer ribs than normal (10 instead of 12 pairs of ribs), a bizarre-looking elongated skull and eye slits. X-ray studies revealed accelerated bone age, leading to speculation that the mummy was a well-preserved non-human primate, a human fetus with genetic mutations, or even an alien.

Garry Nolan, professor of microbiology and immunology at Stanford University in California, and his colleagues were able to extract and sequence intact genetic material from Ata's ribs in 2013. This was successful because the skeleton, mummified by the desert sun, was only about 40 years old.

Analysis of the DNA extracted from the bones, which took 5 years, shows that Ata is a female fetus of human origin, probably of Chilean descent. She had mutations in at least seven genes known to cause severe skeletal malformations such as short stature, rib abnormalities, skull deformities, premature joint fusion and skeletal dysplasia. Ata's peculiar phenotype therefore likely results from several known and novel putative gene mutations that affect bone development and ossification.

In their article, the researchers also considered the causes of Ata's numerous deformities: "We can only speculate, but the body was found in La Noria, one of many abandoned towns in the Atacama Desert where nitrate was mined." may have played a role in prenatal DNA damage.

Sources:

The Guardian

Genome Research

Author: Beate L. – mimikama.org

Notes:
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