In Bolzano, Italy, the EURAC-Institute for Mummies and the Iceman was recently created to investigate ancientDNA in mummies as well as the famous Iceman, found in the Alps in 1991.
They used new techniques that can identify ancient genetic information from an archaeological find, even when large amounts of DNA from soil bacteria are also present.
Autophagy is an ancient mechanism, shared by all eukaryotic organisms (those which, unlike bacteria, keep their DNA in a membrane-bound nucleus within their cells).