{"id":157756,"date":"2023-03-22T22:02:29","date_gmt":"2023-03-23T05:02:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=157756"},"modified":"2023-03-22T22:02:29","modified_gmt":"2023-03-23T05:02:29","slug":"beethovens-dna-sequenced-revealing-clues-to-his-health-family-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=157756","title":{"rendered":"Beethoven&#8217;s DNA Sequenced Revealing Clues to His Health &#038; Family History."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Cambridge, UK&#8230;In 1802, Ludwig van Beethoven asked his doctor to describe his illness after his death, and to make this record public. The great composer\u2019s health and cause of death have been debated ever since, but without the benefit of genetic research&#8230; until now. Beethoven\u2019s genome has been sequenced for the first time by an international team of scientists using five genetically matching locks of his hair.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/7_portrait-of-beethoven-by-stieler_no-frame-2323x2909-1-scaled.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-157757\" src=\"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/7_portrait-of-beethoven-by-stieler_no-frame-2323x2909-1-scaled.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"802\" srcset=\"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/7_portrait-of-beethoven-by-stieler_no-frame-2323x2909-1-scaled.webp 2044w, https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/7_portrait-of-beethoven-by-stieler_no-frame-2323x2909-1-240x300.webp 240w, https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/7_portrait-of-beethoven-by-stieler_no-frame-2323x2909-1-818x1024.webp 818w, https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/7_portrait-of-beethoven-by-stieler_no-frame-2323x2909-1-768x962.webp 768w, https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/7_portrait-of-beethoven-by-stieler_no-frame-2323x2909-1-1227x1536.webp 1227w, https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/7_portrait-of-beethoven-by-stieler_no-frame-2323x2909-1-1635x2048.webp 1635w, https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/7_portrait-of-beethoven-by-stieler_no-frame-2323x2909-1-570x714.webp 570w, https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/7_portrait-of-beethoven-by-stieler_no-frame-2323x2909-1-701x878.webp 701w, https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/7_portrait-of-beethoven-by-stieler_no-frame-2323x2909-1-1067x1336.webp 1067w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Portrait of Beethoven by Joseph Karl Stieler, 1820. Image: Beethoven-Haus Bonn<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Beethoven's Hair: Unlocking Ludwig's DNA\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lIaj43-FR4I\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The study&#8217;s lead author is Tristan Begg, a final year Biological Anthropology PhD researcher from the Department of Archaeology and Clare Hall, University of Cambridge.<\/p>\n<p>The research, led by Cambridge; the Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies; the American Beethoven Society; KU Leuven; FamilyTreeDNA; the University Hospital Bonn and the University of Bonn; the Beethoven-Haus, Bonn; and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, uncovers important information about the composer\u2019s health and poses new questions about his recent ancestry and cause of death.<\/p>\n<p>The study, published in Current Biology, shows that DNA from five locks of hair \u2013 all dating from the last seven years of Beethoven\u2019s life \u2013 originate from a single individual matching the composer\u2019s documented ancestry. By combining genetic data with closely examined provenance histories, researchers conclude these five locks are \u201calmost certainly authentic\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The study\u2019s primary aim was to shed light on Beethoven\u2019s health problems, which famously include progressive hearing loss, beginning in his mid- to late-20s and eventually leading to him being functionally deaf by 1818. The team also investigated possible genetic causes of Beethoven\u2019s chronic gastrointestinal complaints, and a severe liver disease that culminated in his death in 1827.<\/p>\n<p>Beginning in his Bonn years, the composer suffered from \u201cwretched\u201d gastrointestinal problems, which continued and worsened in Vienna. In the summer of 1821, Beethoven had the first of at least two attacks of jaundice, a symptom of liver disease. Cirrhosis has long been viewed as the most likely cause of his death at age 56.<\/p>\n<p>The team of scientists were unable to find a definitive cause for Beethoven\u2019s deafness or gastrointestinal problems. However, they did discover a number of significant genetic risk factors for liver disease.<\/p>\n<p>They also found evidence of an infection with Hepatitis B virus in at latest the months before the composer\u2019s final illness.<\/p>\n<p>Tristan Begg said: \u201cWe can surmise from Beethoven\u2019s \u2018conversation books\u2019, which he used during the last decade of his life, that his alcohol consumption was very regular, although it is difficult to estimate the volumes being consumed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile most of his contemporaries claim his consumption was moderate by early 19th century Viennese standards, there is not complete agreement among these sources, and this still likely amounted to quantities of alcohol known today to be harmful to the liver.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf his alcohol consumption was sufficiently heavy over a long enough period of time, the interaction with his genetic risk factors presents one possible explanation for his cirrhosis.\u201d<br \/>\nTristan Begg<br \/>\nThe research team also suggests that Beethoven\u2019s Hepatitis B infection might have driven the composer\u2019s severe liver disease, exacerbated by his alcohol intake and genetic risk. However, the scientists caution that the nature and timing of this infection \u2013 which would have greatly influenced its relationship with Beethoven\u2019s liver disease \u2013 could not currently be determined, and similarly caution that the true extent of his alcohol consumption remains unknown.<\/p>\n<p>Beethoven\u2019s hearing loss has been linked to several potential causes, among them diseases with various degrees of genetic contributions. Investigation of the authenticated hair samples did not reveal a simple genetic origin of the hearing loss.<\/p>\n<p>Axel Schmidt at the Institute of Human Genetics at the University Hospital of Bonn, said: \u201cAlthough a clear genetic underpinning for Beethoven\u2019s hearing loss could not be identified, we caution that such a scenario cannot be strictly ruled out.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cReference data, which are mandatory to interpret individual genomes, are steadily improving. It is therefore possible that Beethoven\u2019s genome will reveal hints for the cause of his hearing loss in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It proved impossible to find a genetic explanation for Beethoven\u2019s gastrointestinal complaints, but the researchers argue that coeliac disease and lactose intolerance are highly unlikely based on the genomic data. Beethoven was also found to have a certain degree of genetic protection against risk of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), often suspected as a cause, rendering this a less likely explanation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe 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,\u201d said Johannes Krause, from the Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology. \u201cWe can also eliminate several other less plausible genetic causes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTaken in view of the known medical history, it is highly likely that it was some combination of these three factors, including his alcohol consumption, acting in concert, but future research will have to clarify the extent to which each factor was involved,\u201d Tristan Begg adds.<\/p>\n<p>In total, the team conducted authentication tests on eight hair samples acquired from public and private collections in the UK, continental Europe and the US.<\/p>\n<p>In doing so, the researchers discovered that at least two of the locks did not originate from Beethoven, including a famous lock once believed to have been cut from the recently deceased composer\u2019s head by the 15-year-old musician Ferdinand Hiller.<\/p>\n<p>Previous analyses of the \u2018Hiller lock\u2019 supported the suggestion that Beethoven had lead poisoning, a possible factor in his health complaints, including his hearing loss.<\/p>\n<p>William Meredith, who was part of a team involved in earlier scientific analyses of Beethoven\u2019s remains and initiated the present study with Tristan Begg, said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSince we now know that the \u2018Hiller lock\u2019 came from a woman and not Beethoven, none of the earlier analyses based solely on that lock apply to Beethoven. Future studies to test for lead, opiates, and mercury must be based on authenticated samples.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The five samples identified as being authentic and from the same person belong to the Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies in San Jose, California; to a private collector, American Beethoven Society member Kevin Brown, and to the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn.<\/p>\n<p>Beethoven hand-delivered one of the locks (now in Brown\u2019s collection) to the pianist Anton Halm in April 1826 telling him \u201cDas sind meine Haare!\u201d (\u201cThat is my hair!\u201d).<\/p>\n<p>Beethoven\u2019s whole genome was sequenced from another of Brown\u2019s samples, the \u2018Stumpff Lock\u2019, which emerged as the best-preserved sample. The team found the strongest connection between the DNA extracted from the Stumpff lock of Beethoven&#8217;s hair and people living in present day North Rhine-Westphalia, consistent with Beethoven&#8217;s known German ancestry.<\/p>\n<p>The team analysed the genetics of five men now living in Belgium who share the surname Beethoven. These men were all found to share the same Y-chromosome. This, when combined with genealogical studies, implies that these men share a common ancestor in the male line, in one Aert van Beethoven (1535\u20131609). The Y-chromosome found in the hair samples from Ludwig van Beethoven, however, is quite different.<\/p>\n<p>The team concluded that this was likely to be the result of at least one \u201cextra-pair paternity event\u201d \u2013 a child resulting from an extramarital relationship \u2013 in Beethoven\u2019s direct paternal line. Genetic genealogist Maarten Larmuseau from the KU Leuven said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThrough the combination of DNA data and archival documents, we were able to observe a discrepancy between Ludwig van Beethoven\u2019s legal and biological genealogy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The study suggests that this event occurred in the direct paternal line between the conception of Hendrik van Beethoven in Kampenhout, Belgium in c.1572, and the conception of Ludwig van Beethoven seven generations later in 1770, in Bonn, Germany.<\/p>\n<p>Although a doubt had earlier been raised concerning the paternity of Beethoven\u2019s father owing to the absence of a baptismal record, the researchers could not determine the generation during which this event took place.<\/p>\n<p>Tristan Begg said: \u201cWe hope that by making Beethoven\u2019s 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.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Source = University of Cambridge<\/p>\n<p>Written By\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:tom.williams@admin.cam.ac.uk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tom Almeroth-Williams<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cambridge, UK&#8230;In 1802, Ludwig van Beethoven asked his doctor to describe his illness after his death, and to make this record public. The great composer\u2019s health and cause of death have been debated ever since, but without the benefit of genetic research&#8230; until now. Beethoven\u2019s genome has been sequenced for the first time by an [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":157757,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,20,33,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-157756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-featured","category-health-fitness","category-news","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/7_portrait-of-beethoven-by-stieler_no-frame-2323x2909-1-scaled.webp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=157756"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157756\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":157758,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157756\/revisions\/157758"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/157757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=157756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=157756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=157756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}