NYT HEALTH: DNA From Beethoven’s Hair Unlocks Medical and Family Secrets
By Gina Kolata
Section: Health
Source: New York Times
Published Date: March 22, 2023 at 02:00AM
The parade of mourners continued after Beethoven’s death at age 56, even after doctors performed a gruesome craniotomy, looking at the folds in Beethoven’s brain and removing his ear bones in a vain attempt to understand why the revered composer lost his hearing.
Within three days of Beethoven’s death, not a single strand of hair was left on his head.
Ever since, a cottage industry has aimed to understand Beethoven’s illnesses and the cause of his death.
Now, an analysis of strands of his hair has upended long held beliefs about his health. The report provides an explanation for his debilitating ailments and even his death, while also raising new questions about his genealogical origins and hinting at a dark family secret.
By Gina Kolata
Section: Health
Source: New York Times
Published Date: March 22, 2023 at 02:00AM
By analyzing seven samples of hair said to have come from Ludwig van Beethoven, researchers debunked myths about the revered composer while raising new questions about his life and death.
It was March 1827 and Ludwig van Beethoven was dying. As he lay in bed, wracked with abdominal pain and jaundiced, grieving friends and acquaintances came to visit. And some asked a favor: Could they clip a lock of his hair for remembrance?The parade of mourners continued after Beethoven’s death at age 56, even after doctors performed a gruesome craniotomy, looking at the folds in Beethoven’s brain and removing his ear bones in a vain attempt to understand why the revered composer lost his hearing.
Within three days of Beethoven’s death, not a single strand of hair was left on his head.
Ever since, a cottage industry has aimed to understand Beethoven’s illnesses and the cause of his death.
Now, an analysis of strands of his hair has upended long held beliefs about his health. The report provides an explanation for his debilitating ailments and even his death, while also raising new questions about his genealogical origins and hinting at a dark family secret.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/22/health/beethoven-death-dna-hair.html
Beethoven's Hair: Unlocking Ludwig's DNA. Scientists have sequenced Ludwig van Beethoven’s genome from locks of his hair, revealing clues to the great composer’s health and his family history.In 1802, Beethoven asked his doctor to describe the illness he was suffering from, and to make this record public after his death. His health has been debated ever since, but without the benefit of genetic research... until now. Beethoven’s genome has been sequenced for the first time by an international team of scientists using five genetically matching locks of his hair. In this film, Tristan Begg, the study's lead author from @CambridgeArchaeology and @clarehallcam at the University of Cambridge, explains how they did it and what they discovered.
Posts
