Dentist and anthropologist Charles Hildebolt believed modern technology could unravel the [child] mummy's secrets. He brought together a crew of Washington University radiologists and geneticists to study the mummy. Florida State University anthropologist Dean Falk and Salima Ikram, professor at the American University in Cairo and one of the world's foremost mummy specialists, signed on to help, too.

A CT scan provided vivid, 3-D images. Analysis of the bones in the mummy's hand, the plates of his skull and the roots of his teeth suggested the child died at seven or eight months.

The scans also showed that his organs had been removed. His brain had been extracted through the left nostril. Mummification required embalmers to remove all internal organs and moisture from the body.

"That seems impossible," said Falk, an expert in brain evolution. "But a fresh brain is like soup. They would have been able to scoop it like Jell-O..."

St. Louis Science Centre unveils child mummy, Diane Toroian Keaggy, St. Louis Dispatch, Missouri, USA, March 15, 2007.