The dead generally don’t pull their weight. They don’t cause to much harm, except for when they’re rising again as zombies or vampires… but there is a recently risen corpse that is actually helping us.

His name is… was… is?.. Sir Mark Sykes, and he passed away nearly 90 years ago.

It was his manner of passing, and what subsequently happened to his body that has proved so useful.

Sir Mark Sykes was killed by the Spanish ‘flu virus. He was buried in a lead coffin.

The same virus took around 50 million other people too. 

Mr Sykes was exhumed because it is thought that whilst the air-tight coffin has preserved his body, it may also have preserved the virus. Obtaining this DNA could provide us with clues on how the virus mutates, and what made it so potent in the last century.

The scientist in charge, John Oxford says, ‘at the moment we are on the potential verge of the first great outbreak of influenza of the 21st century’.

He should know, being responsible for letting it out of its box again.