At least one Medici was plagued by a deadly strain of malaria, analysis of organ tissue from the Medici family tomb reveals...The researchers found evidence of the parasite that causes malaria, and made the first observation of a parasite from that time in history that remains structurally intact.The Medicis were an ultra-powerful, wealthy banking family that exerted great influence in Renaissance Florence, eventually becoming rulers of the Duchy of Tuscany in the 16th century.Because of their power and status, they buried their dead like monarchs in the San Lorenzo Basilica in central Florence, keeping the skeletal remains of the bodies...