Proteins in Margins Reveal Renaissance DIY Medicine

Researchers combined multispectral imaging and proteomics to study two 1531 Renaissance medical manuals, uncovering faded text and protein traces from readers’ hands. The marginalia show extensive at‑home experimentation with vernacular remedies, including both common ingredients and exotic compounds like hippopotamus teeth; proteomics also detected immune-related proteins, illustrating how Renaissance knowledge blended practical tinkering with book knowledge. The work demonstrates a new way to contextualize historical recipes and could scale to more collections.