quote:Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) remains among the most influential and popular classical music composers. Health problems significantly impacted his 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. Here we attempt a genomic analysis of Beethoven in order to elucidate potential underlying genetic and infectious causes of his illnesses. We incorporated improvements in ancient DNA methods into existing protocols for ancient hair samples, enabling the sequencing of high-coverage genomes from small quantities of historical hair. We analyzed eight independently sourced locks of hair attributed to Beethoven, five of which originated from a single European male. We deemed these matching samples to be almost certainly authentic and sequenced Beethoven’s genome to 24-fold genomic coverage. 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. Metagenomic 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. Unexpectedly, an analysis of Y chromosomes sequenced from five living members of the Van Beethoven patrilineage revealed the occurrence of an extra-pair paternity event in Ludwig van Beethoven’s patrilineal ancestry.
For those of you who have heard speculation that he might have had some recent African ancestry, the report doesn't find any evidence of that.
quote:Principal component analyses (PCAs) performed on the high-coverage Beethoven genome placed it among Europeans, clustering with modern Germans (Figures S1–S3). Testing for admixture among five global populations using ADMIXTURE22 revealed that Beethoven’s ancestry was >99% European (Figures S4 and S5). We assessed geographic clustering of ancestors of 665 FamilyTreeDNA customers who share long (≥6 cM) autosomal IBD segments with Beethoven and used a novel GGT method (STAR Methods) to analyze the place names documented in their genealogical records. We found strong geographic clustering of matches along the Rhine River and within present-day North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany (Figure 4; Methods S1L–S1O), largely consistent with the geographic distribution of the birthplaces of Beethoven’s German ancestors.
As if this portrait of him, which dates back to his time, wasn't evidence enough of his appearance.
Genomic analyses of hair from Ludwig van Beethoven
March 22, 2023
Eight locks of hair attributed to Ludwig van Beethoven underwent genomic analyses • We deemed five of these authentic and sequenced Beethoven’s genome to high coverage • Beethoven had a predisposition for liver disease and became infected with hepatitis B • We also discovered an extra-pair-paternity event in Beethoven’s paternal line
We analyzed eight independently sourced locks of hair attributed to Beethoven, five of which originated from a single European male. We deemed these matching samples to be almost certainly authentic and sequenced Beethoven’s genome to 24-fold genomic coverage.
Beethoven’s I1a-Z139 Y chromosome haplogroup is common and widespread in Europe
We performed shallow shotgun sequencing to permit assessments of DNA preservation and authenticity (Figure 1; Data S1A). Five samples, the Müller, Bermann, Halm-Thayer, Moscheles, and Stumpff Locks, shared identical mitochondrial genomes of haplogroup H1b1+16,362C with a private mutation at C16,176T
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One can wonder, if it was possible to conduct a genomic analyse of Beethovens hair, would it maybe also be possible to conduct similar analysis of the yellow hair that are mentioned in an earlier thread? Now the yellow hair from ancient Egypt is of course much older and preserved in another climate, but it could maybe be worth a try?
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probably, this hair analysis involves some newer methods that open up new possibilities
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quote:Originally posted by Archeopteryx: One can wonder, if it was possible to conduct a genomic analyse of Beethovens hair, would it maybe also be possible to conduct similar analysis of the yellow hair that are mentioned in an earlier thread? Now the yellow hair from ancient Egypt is of course much older and preserved in another climate, but it could maybe be worth a try?
If it's from a wig, the hair still could come for another part of the world as an imported product.
Posts: 22235 | From: האם אינכם כילדי הכרית אלי בני ישראל | Registered: Nov 2010
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For those of you who have heard speculation that he might have had some recent African ancestry, the report doesn't find any evidence of that.
Who made these claims? If there was any it would be from H1
quote: "As of 2010, the highest frequency of the H1 subclade has been found among the Tuareg inhabiting the Fezzan region in Libya (61%).[21] The basal H1* haplogroup is found among the Tuareg inhabiting the Gossi area in Mali (4.76%).[22]"
Haplogroup H (mtDNA)
Posts: 22235 | From: האם אינכם כילדי הכרית אלי בני ישראל | Registered: Nov 2010
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Genomic analyses of hair from Ludwig van Beethoven
March 22, 2023
Eight locks of hair attributed to Ludwig van Beethoven underwent genomic analyses • We deemed five of these authentic and sequenced Beethoven’s genome to high coverage •
[...]
Beethoven’s I1a-Z139 Y chromosome haplogroup is common and widespread in Europe
[…]
mitochondrial genomes of haplogroup H1b1+16,362C with a private mutation at C16,176T
I1a is typically found in Scandinavia, which goes with historical accounts. German history is closely intertwined with Scandinavian history.
Posts: 22235 | From: האם אינכם כילדי הכרית אלי בני ישראל | Registered: Nov 2010
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