Researchers have decoded the DNA of Ludwig van Beethoven, uncovering possible risk factors for liver disease, according to a study published in Current Biology. The researchers analyzed eight locks of hair, of which five were determined to belong to the famous composer. Further analysis revealed that Beethoven had a high risk of liver disease, likely due to a genetic disorder called hereditary hemochromatosis. However, it is believed that his alcohol consumption and hepatitis B infection may have contributed to his liver disease. The study also found that there was an extramarital affair somewhere in Beethoven’s ancestral line, as his living relatives did not match the Y-chromosome found in his authenticated hair. The researchers hope that by making Beethoven’s genome publicly available, future research will be able to answer remaining questions about his health and genealogy.
First DNA Analysis of Beethoven’s Hair Reveals Liver Disease as Possible Cause of Death
The world-renowned composer, Ludwig van Beethoven, may likely have died of liver disease instead of lead poisoning, as was previously thought. This information comes from the first ever DNA analysis of Beethoven’s hair, conducted on five locks taken as mementos from his head during the last seven years of his life. The genetic analysis revealed that Beethoven had a high risk of liver disease, and he was infected with hepatitis B when he died. This infection, along with his genetic risk, may have played a role in his death. However, this discovery does not explain how Beethoven lost his hearing.
Beethoven began to lose his ability to hear in his mid-to-late-20s and became completely deaf by his late-40s. He also suffered from increasingly severe gastrointestinal problems throughout his life, including at least two attacks of jaundice, which is a symptom of liver disease. In 1802, as his ailments grew in severity, Beethoven asked his doctor friend Johann Adam Schmidt to uncover and publicize the strange disease he was suffering from, but Schmidt died 18 years before Beethoven.
After Beethoven’s death in 1827, a post-mortem revealed that he had severe liver scarring, also known as cirrhosis. The new research, published on March 22, 2023, in the journal “Current Biology,” has found the genetic and viral basis for his illness, fulfilling the composer’s request at long last.
“We cannot say definitely what killed Beethoven, but we can now at least confirm the presence of significant heritable risk and an infection with hepatitis B virus,” said study co-author Johannes Krause, a professor of genetics at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. “We can also eliminate several other less plausible genetic causes.”
The discovery contradicts the widely-believed suggestion that the composer died from lead poisoning. Nonetheless, the analysis sheds light on the mystery of Beethoven’s death and provides insight into his family history and health.
Researchers Decode Beethoven’s DNA and Uncover Possible Risk Factors for Liver Disease
Researchers have successfully decoded the DNA of the famous composer Ludwig van Beethoven, using eight locks of his hair obtained from collections in the U.S. and Europe. After authenticating the hair and comparing the DNA from each lock, the researchers concluded that five of them belonged to Beethoven. Interestingly, the lock of hair previously thought to indicate lead poisoning was discovered to have come from an Ashkenazi Jewish woman.
Further DNA analysis of the remaining locks showed that Beethoven had a high risk of liver disease, possibly due to a genetic disorder called hereditary hemochromatosis. The risk factor was not significant, but the researchers believe that his alcohol consumption and hepatitis B infection may have contributed to the development of liver disease. However, more research is needed to understand the extent to which each factor played a role in his death.
In addition to the discoveries about Beethoven’s health, the study also revealed a mystery in his family history. The researchers compared the DNA of Beethoven’s living relatives with the Y-chromosome found in his authenticated hair and found that they did not match, suggesting that there was an extramarital affair somewhere in his ancestral line.
The researchers hope that by making Beethoven’s genome publicly available, future research will be able to answer remaining questions about his health and genealogy. Study lead author Tristan Begg, a geneticist and doctoral candidate of Biological Anthropology at the University of Cambridge, stated that “we hope that by making Beethoven’s genome publicly available for researchers, and perhaps adding further authenticated locks to the initial chronological series, remaining questions about his health and genealogy can someday be answered.”
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