Interesting news about Beethoven

“The head, these hair’s have grac’d lies low; But what it wrought — will ever grow.”

From May 7, 1827: the lock of hair from which key portions of Beethoven’s genome was sequenced. Above it is a poem by Johann Andreas Stumpff: “The head, these hair’s have grac’d lies low; But what it wrought — will ever grow.”

In March, an international group of researchers published an article, in the scientific journal Current Biology, in which they reported on DNA analyses of Beethoven’s hair. The paragraph below includes some information from a summary of their findings:

Health problems significantly impacted [Beethoven’s] career as a composer and pianist, including progressive hearing loss, recurring gastrointestinal complaints, and liver disease. In 1802, Beethoven requested that following his death, his disease be described and made public. Medical biographers have since proposed numerous hypotheses, including many substantially heritable conditions. [W]e [conducted] a genomic analysis of Beethoven in order to elucidate potential underlying genetic and infectious causes of his illnesses. We analyzed eight…locks of hair attributed to Beethoven, five of which originated from a single European male. Although we could not identify a genetic explanation for Beethoven’s hearing disorder or gastrointestinal problems, we found that Beethoven had a genetic predisposition for liver disease. [Additional] analyses revealed furthermore that Beethoven had a hepatitis B infection during at least the months prior to his death. Together with the genetic predisposition and his broadly accepted alcohol consumption, these present plausible explanations for Beethoven’s severe liver disease, which culminated in his death.

For those with a science background who are interested in reading more, you can download the journal article here. And here’s a link to the New York Times’ coverage of the story, by their excellent science writer, Gina Kolata.