5月3日，据台湾《联合报》报道，研究意大利阿尔卑斯山区木乃伊冰人“奥茨”的学者，已在冰人身上伤口附近找到红血球细胞。学者推测，冰人可能是在受伤后迅速死亡。这是目前为止科学家观察到的最古老的红血球细胞，也堪称是全世界最古老凶杀案的最新发展。
报道称，血液细胞多半会在人死后迅速分解，先前对奥茨体内血液的扫描并未发现任何东西，但发表在《皇家学会学报—界面》（Journal of The Royal Society Interface ）的一项研究显示，奥茨死前不久流的血都被保存了下来。
奥茨大约生于公元前3300年，于1991年被登山客发现，他的背部中箭，箭头留在体内，专家认定他是因伤致死，但关于他究竟是跌落那个死亡地点，或是死后由他人埋葬在那里，众说纷纭。
意大利“艾伍拉克木乃伊及冰人研究所”研究员金克等人曾在英国医学期刊《刺胳针》上发表论文指出，奥茨手上的一个伤口有血红蛋白；但他们一直认定红血球细胞很脆弱，无法保存那么久。
现在这个团队从奥茨箭伤附近的组织样本中，发现有一些“甜甜圈”形的组织，就像是红血球细胞。
金克说，这似乎解开了整桩疑案的一个重点。他说，“由于血纤维蛋白只出现在新伤口上，随后就会分解，因此我们推测，若说奥茨是在受箭伤之后几天才丧生，这是说不通的。”（生物谷Bioon.com）
doi:10.1098/?rsif.2012.0174
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Preservation of 5300 year old red blood cells in the Iceman
Janko, Marek; Stark, Robert W.; Zink, Albert
Changes in elasticity and structures of red blood cells (RBCs) are important indicators of disease, and this makes them interesting for medical studies. In forensics, blood analyses represent a crucial part of crime scene investigations. For these reasons, the recovery and analysis of blood cells from ancient tissues is of major interest. In this study, we show that RBCs were preserved in Iceman tissue samples for more than 5000 years. The morphological and molecular composition of the blood corpuscle is verified by atomic force microscope and Raman spectroscopy measurements. The cell size and shape approximated those of healthy, dried, recent RBCs. Raman spectra of the ancient corpuscle revealed bands that are characteristic of haemoglobin. Additional vibrational modes typical for other proteinaceous fragments, possibly fibrin, suggested the formation of a blood clot. The band intensities, however, were approximately an order of magnitude weaker than those of recent RBCs. This fact points to a decrease in the RBC-specific metalloprotein haemoglobin and, thus, to a degradation of the cells. Together, the results show the preservation of RBCs in the 5000 year old mummy tissue and give the first insights into their degradation.
