A genetic analysis of Beethoven’s hair overturns the idea that he had lead poisoning – it turns out that the earlier work was done on a woman’s hair rather than on his
at the University of Cambridge and his colleagues have analysed the DNA of eight locks of hair purported to come from Beethoven’s head to see if it could explain the composer’s health issues.
Beethoven, born in 1770, started losing his hearing in his mid-20s, as he started to grow in fame. He was almost completely deaf by his mid-40s and experienced severe gastrointestinal issues during his life. He died in 1827, aged 56. A post-mortem examination at the time revealed that he had severe liver damage.The researchers’ first task was making sure the hair actually came from Beethoven.
They therefore examined the paperwork for each lock and used DNA analysis to determine the age of the samples. “For DNA samples from the last few centuries, you’ll tend to see the accumulation of damage patterns,” says Begg. “You want to see these patterns consistent with the documented age of the samples.”Get the most essential health and fitness news in your inbox every Saturday.Then they compared the DNA of the eight locks.
Examining the DNA data, the researchers found that the composer had a high genetic risk for liver disease. Begg says this risk would be relatively benign for most people, but Beethoven’s reportedly high alcohol consumption would have increased the likelihood that he developed the condition.
But the researchers found no genetic factor linked to the composer’s gastrointestinal problems or deafness. Begg isn’t surprised when it comes to the latter. “Late-onset forms of hearing loss are rarely caused by a single gene,” he says.
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