DNA cracks centuries-old murder mystery involving one of history's most famous families

Researchers at Yale University believe they’ve solved a centuries-old mystery over how a member of one of Italy’s most famous families died.

In a study published in the journal iScience, researchers analyzed ancient DNA from Grand Duke Francesco I de’ Medici, the Renaissance ruler of Tuscany, who died suddenly in 1587.

Francesco I de’ Medici and his wife, Bianca Cappello, died a day apart after falling ill with intermittent fevers following a stay at a mosquito-filled villa — fueling centuries of rumors that they had been poisoned.

Asked why the rumors persisted, Tucci said, “We do not know.”

The professor added, “Probably because it was still plausible, given that up to now, there were no conclusive reports that indeed they had malaria. Our study is the first one to genetically confirm it.”

Tucci added that while the researchers cannot completely rule out poisoning, “malaria remains the most likely explanation for his cause of death.”

She also noted that “the hypothesis of poisoning doesn’t seem to be well-supported from a scientific perspective — it’s very speculative.”

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“We can only say that we found the pathogen that causes malaria in this specimen, confirming that he had malaria,” Tucci said.

The same genetic approach could “certainly” help solve other historical mysteries, said Gisella Caccone, a senior research scientist in Yale’s Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and a co-author of the study.

“[It’s possible if] there is a clear hypothesis to address and one can address it using genomic-based approaches,” added Caccone. “It depends on the questions and the tools we have.”

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The DNA recovered from centuries-old remains can do more than solve historical mysteries, Caccone pointed out: The newly identified malaria strain could help researchers better understand how the parasite has evolved over time.

“The more we know about how fast it can change, the better our methods and models to control will be,” she noted.

“Using historical specimens can not only help us understand our past better, but also it can help build a better future.”