Centuries of speculation surrounding the sudden deaths of Grand Duke Francesco I de’ Medici and his wife, Bianca Cappello, in 1587 have been definitively resolved by groundbreaking DNA analysis. The couple, who fell ill with fevers after staying at a mosquito-infested villa, were long rumored to have been poisoned, with suspicion even falling on Francesco’s brother. However, researchers at Yale University, in collaboration with paleopathologists from the University of Pisa, extracted ancient DNA from the ribs of Francesco I and his younger brother, Giovanni de’ Medici, who had died of malaria 25 years earlier. Their genetic analysis revealed conclusive evidence of Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite responsible for the deadliest form of malaria, in Giovanni’s remains, and traces of P. falciparum and P. malariae in Francesco’s. This scientific proof debunks the persistent poisoning theories, providing the first genetic confirmation of malaria as the cause of their deaths and offering a new avenue for understanding the evolution of the malaria parasite.
Adapted from: Travel News Today on Fox News
