Medici family mystery may be solved after more than 400 years

https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/15/science/medici-family-mystery-dna-malaria

by effects • 59 minutes ago

32 4 59 minutes ago

bell-cot• 40 minutes ago

tl;dr; - Scientists did DNA testing on the remains of the Grand Duke and his wife, and found malaria. The rival theory is poisoning by the relative who was next in line for the Ducal throne. HOWEVER, this test result solves nothing:

But is there any guarantee that Francesco was not also poisoned?
“Perhaps not,” Ochoa said, “but the genetic evidence presented in our study decreases the margin for speculation.”
Gisella Caccone, a senior research scientist also at Yale and a study coauthor, agrees. “We can say that they had malaria, we cannot say that they were not poisoned as well,” Caccone said in an email.

shermantanktop• 29 minutes ago

Maybe they were poisoned, had malaria, were stabbed, and also suffocated and drowned, all at the same time?

"solves" is a silly thing to ask for in matters of probability. I think this test result adds data which shifts probabilities, and that's the best we'll get.

themgt• 20 minutes ago

Maybe they were poisoned, had malaria, were stabbed, and also suffocated and drowned, all at the same time?

Just now learning Grigori Rasputin died of malaria.

asdfman123• 5 minutes ago

Nice work science, but 400 years is a long time to hold onto old grudges. I go by what the "Good Book" says and "forgive and forget."

(sorry guys channeling my ken m)

Medici family mystery may be solved after more than 400 years

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