When the mummified remains of a six-inch humanoid were found in an abandoned mining town in Chile’s Atacama desert 15 years ago, speculation on its origins ran wild.
The skeleton, which was sold to a private collector in Spain, was so bizarre it appeared in a documentary as potential evidence for alien life.
Now scientists in California have extracted DNA from the mummy’s bones and pieced together the real and tragic story of the individual, known as Ata.
Rather than a visitor from another world, Ata was a girl who appears to have been stillborn, or to have died immediately after birth, with devastating mutations that shaped her extraordinary body.
Ata’s remains were found in 2003 in La Noria, an old nitrate-mining town, reportedly wrapped in white cloth tied with a violet ribbon.
The skeleton was remarkable in many ways. While only six inches tall, the bones had some features of a child aged six to eight.
Beyond her skeletal malformations, Ata may have had a genetic condition known as congenital diaphragmatic hernia.
Garry Nolan, a professor of microbiology and immunology at the Stanford University School of Medicine said; 'Nothing like this had been seen before. Certainly, nobody had looked into the genetics of it.'
The girl's cone-shaped skull remains a mystery even after the genetic analysis.
It has previously been suggested that the unusual shape could have been caused by a condition known as oxcephaly, or turricephaly.
'While this started as a story about aliens, and went international, it's really a story of a human tragedy.
'A woman had a malformed baby, it was preserved in a manner and then "hocked" or sold as a strange artefact. May she rest in peace.'
The skeleton, which was sold to a private collector in Spain, was so bizarre it appeared in a documentary as potential evidence for alien life.
Now scientists in California have extracted DNA from the mummy’s bones and pieced together the real and tragic story of the individual, known as Ata.
Rather than a visitor from another world, Ata was a girl who appears to have been stillborn, or to have died immediately after birth, with devastating mutations that shaped her extraordinary body.
Ata’s remains were found in 2003 in La Noria, an old nitrate-mining town, reportedly wrapped in white cloth tied with a violet ribbon.
The skeleton was remarkable in many ways. While only six inches tall, the bones had some features of a child aged six to eight.
Instead of the usual 12 pairs of ribs found on humans, Ata had only 10 pairs. The head was an elongated cone shape.
DNA analysis reveals that her appearance can be explained by a series of genetic mutations that are linked to dwarfism and other bone and growth disorders.
The skeleton is most likely from a premature baby, or from one soon after birth.
Sanchita Bhattacharya, a researcher at UCSF said she found 64 gene variants in 'Ata's DNA that seemed likely to be damaging.
She found that, incredibly, 10 of the variations were linked to skeletal problems including 'short stature' and '11 pairs of ribs'.
DNA analysis reveals that her appearance can be explained by a series of genetic mutations that are linked to dwarfism and other bone and growth disorders.
The skeleton is most likely from a premature baby, or from one soon after birth.
Sanchita Bhattacharya, a researcher at UCSF said she found 64 gene variants in 'Ata's DNA that seemed likely to be damaging.
She found that, incredibly, 10 of the variations were linked to skeletal problems including 'short stature' and '11 pairs of ribs'.
Beyond her skeletal malformations, Ata may have had a genetic condition known as congenital diaphragmatic hernia.
Garry Nolan, a professor of microbiology and immunology at the Stanford University School of Medicine said; 'Nothing like this had been seen before. Certainly, nobody had looked into the genetics of it.'
The girl's cone-shaped skull remains a mystery even after the genetic analysis.
It has previously been suggested that the unusual shape could have been caused by a condition known as oxcephaly, or turricephaly.
'While this started as a story about aliens, and went international, it's really a story of a human tragedy.
'A woman had a malformed baby, it was preserved in a manner and then "hocked" or sold as a strange artefact. May she rest in peace.'
Documentary: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2637848/
Music: "I Can Feel it Coming" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Source: The Guardian , Sirius Disclosure, Daily Mail
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