Ancient DNA Reveals Malaria as Killer in 16th-Century Medici Mystery
Ancient DNA from the Medici remains shows two Plasmodium parasites, confirming malaria killed Grand Duke Francesco de Medici in 1587 and his wife Bianca Cappello rather than poisoning, and revealing a previously unknown Plasmodium falciparum strain that informs how malaria spread across Renaissance Italy and how the parasite evolved.