On the afternoon of August 10, 1628, the Vasa - built by the Swedes to become one of the most powerful warships in the Baltic - departed from the royal port in Stockholm. However, Vasa could not travel more than 1.6 km.
A strong wind caused a nearly 70-meter-long ship to capsize, causing water to overflow through the gunpowder gates that were opening for display on the first trip.
About 150 people were believed to be on board at the time of the ship's sinking and around 30 people had died.
Now, nearly 400 years later, advanced DNA testing has helped researchers understand more about the people who died on the ship, including the woman known as G, who has been suspected of being a man for many years.
Scientists even named the woman "Gustav" in an exhibition at the museum.
Fred Hocker - Director of the Vasa Museum in Stockholm, where the ship is on display - said: "It's interesting to understand who they are personally and what they told us about the Swedish population 400 years ago."
The revival of Vasa began in 1958 and was completed in 1961 when all warships were salvaged from the seabed.
Workers spray water on the ship, then apply polyetylen glycol preservatives for 17 years and let it dry for another 9 years.
Dr Hocker said that some similar excavation projects on historical ships were carried out at the same time, but Vasa was "the most spectacular".
"It's a whole ship, it's very big. Vasa has set a model for marine archaeology," he said.
The recovery of the ship also includes more than 40,000 objects inside and around the ship. However, the remains found in the ship pose an archaeological problem for us, says Dr. Hocker.
Initially, the remains were buried in a Navy cemetery.
26 years later, when the Vasa Museum was preparing to display the ship, scientists excavated bones for further research. However, due to water, improper treatment and no identification numbers, these skeletons are no longer in ideal condition.
It was not until 2004 that the museum began working with geneticists at Uppsala University in Sweden to conduct DNA research on skeletons.
This study concluded that there were 15 adults with clearly defined bones and some bones belonged to at least 2 others, with 1 of them being a child under 10 years old.
By 2016, the lab had developed a next-generation sequencing method that could collect and enrich damaged or damaged human DNA, said Charla Marshall, head of emerging technology at the lab.
The first Vasa sample that the researchers tested was G. After arranging G's entire DNA sequence using four different methods, the laboratory confirmed that this skeleton was female.
Previously, researchers struggled to get a complete genetic structure of G, partly because bone structure possesses both masculine and feminine characteristics: the facial bones look slightly more male than female and the spine shows that G has worked very hard.
Currently, the museum has ordered a new recreated version of G for women to display next to the original version for men.
The museum is also considering whether to change the G name to Gertrud - a popular G-name for women in Sweden in the 1620s - or use letters to identify skeletons.
The museum is also waiting for similar genetic testing for 14 other skeletons.
Dr. Hocker said that additional DNA tests will provide detailed information about the crew on the Vasa, down to details such as whether they have nhunges or not, whether they have wet or dry ears...
