Ancient DNA Finally Solves a 16th-Century Murder Mystery - ScienceAlert

Across four centuries, the deaths of a powerful Medici couple remained shrouded in suspicion, poison, and political intrigue — the kind of mystery that history tends to preserve in rumor rather than resolve. Now, ancient DNA extracted from their remains has offered what no courtly witness ever could: a biological testimony, pointing to malaria rather than murder as the cause of their deaths. Science has quietly stepped into the role of the final arbiter, reminding us that the past is never truly closed, only waiting for the right question to be asked.