Culture

Copernicus remains positively identified through DNA from a single hair

by Tina Kells | November 20, 2008 at 04:04 pm

357 views | 2 Recommendations | 2 comments

16th century astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus can finally rest in peace now that his body has been positively identified through the miracles of modern science. A body thought to be that of the (very) late astronomer was discovered in 2005 buried in a Roman Catholic Cathedral in Frombork, Poland. The disturbed remains, now identified, can be reburied to allow the historic astronomer to rest again.

Archeologists used facial reconstructive technologies, like those employed by forensic anthropologists, to reconstruct a facial image from a skull found at the site. The reconstruction bore a startling resemblance to Copernicus. Scientists then used DNA extracetd from a single hair found in an original text written by Copernicus to match against the DNA of the skeletal remains. The DNA match was positive.

Researchers said Thursday they have identified the remains of Nicolaus Copernicus by comparing DNA from a skeleton and hair retrieved from one of the 16th-century astronomer's books.

The findings could put an end to centuries of speculation about the exact resting spot of Copernicus, a priest and astronomer whose theories identified the Sun, not the Earth, as the center of the universe.

Polish archaeologist Jerzy Gassowski told a news conference that forensic facial reconstruction of the skull that his team found in 2005 buried in a Roman Catholic Cathedral in Frombork, Poland, bears striking resemblance to existing portraits of Copernicus.

The reconstruction shows a broken nose and other features that resemble a self-portrait of Copernicus, and the skull bears a cut mark above the left eye that corresponds with a scar shown in the painting.

Moreover, the skull belonged to a man aged around 70 - Copernicus's age when he died in 1543.

In addition, Swedish genetics expert Marie Allen found that DNA from a tooth and femur bone matched that taken from two hairs retrieved from a book that the 16th-century Polish astronomer owned, which is kept at a library of Sweden's Uppsala University where Allen works.

Gassowski is head of the Archaeology and Anthropology Institute in Pultusk, in central Poland, and Allen works at the Rudbeck Laboratory of the Genetics and Pathology Department of Uppsala University.

Copernicus was known to have been buried in the 14th-century Frombork Cathedral where he served as a canon, but his grave was not marked. The bones found by Gassowski were located under floor tiles near one of the altars.