Medici family mystery may be solved after more than 400 years

Scientists have concluded that Grand Duke Francesco I de' Medici and his wife Bianca Cappello died of malaria in 1587, not arsenic poisoning as murder rumors had suggested for over 400 years. A new study led by Yale University researchers used DNA analysis from the couple's skeletal remains to definitively confirm the presence of malaria parasites, settling a long-standing historical debate that had been fueled by suspicions that Francesco's brother Ferdinando poisoned them to secure his claim to the throne.