DNA from Beethoven Provides Details about His Health
2023-03-25
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1Researchers who examined DNA from famous German composer Ludwig van Beethoven have learned new details about his health.
2The DNA - which came from Beethoven's hair - did not provide a cause for his deafness.
3But the samples did find that he had a genetic risk for liver disease.
4The DNA also showed evidence that Beethoven was infected with the virus hepatitis B in the last months of his life.
5The virus damages the liver.
6The findings recently appeared in a study in the publication Current Biology.
7The findings suggest Beethoven's liver issues were enough to cause the liver failure widely believed to have killed him.
8The composer was also believed to have been a heavy drinker of alcohol, which can affect the liver.
9March 26 is the 196th anniversary of Beethoven's death in Vienna, Austria.
10The composer himself wrote that he wanted doctors to study his health problems after he died.
11Axel Schmidt is a geneticist at Germany's University Hospital Bonn who helped lead the research.
12He told The Associated Press it is established that Beethoven's sicknesses had "sometimes very much limited his creative work."
13Schmidt added that for many doctors, "it has always been a mystery" what exactly killed him.
14Since his death, scientists have long tried to piece together Beethoven's medical history.
15And they have offered a series of possible explanations for his many health conditions.
16But new examination technology and methods now make it possible to revisit health and death information by studying ancient DNA.
17The DNA samples were collected from locks of hair that had been cut from Beethoven's head.
18After cleaning Beethoven's hair one piece at a time, scientists put the pieces into a substance and collected small amounts of DNA, said study author Tristan James Alexander Begg.
19He was a writer of the study and is a biology professor at the University of Cambridge.
20Getting enough genetic material was difficult, said another writer of the study, Johannes Krause.
21He is a paleogeneticist at Germany's Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
22Krause said the process was difficult because DNA in hair gets cut up into very small pieces.
23But finally, after using up almost 3 meters of Beethoven's hair, the team was able to piece together a genome that they could test for signs of genetic disease, Krause said.
24The question of what caused Beethoven's hearing loss remains unanswered, said Ohio State University's Dr. Avraham Z. Cooper.
25He was not involved in the study.
26Cooper said that mystery might continue forever because genetics can only show us half of the "nature and nurture" elements that make up our health.
27However, Cooper added that the mystery is part of what makes Beethoven so interesting and popular: "I think the fact that we can't know is OK," he said.
28I'm Bryan Lynn.
1Researchers who examined DNA from famous German composer Ludwig van Beethoven have learned new details about his health. 2The DNA - which came from Beethoven's hair - did not provide a cause for his deafness. But the samples did find that he had a genetic risk for liver disease. The DNA also showed evidence that Beethoven was infected with the virus hepatitis B in the last months of his life. The virus damages the liver. 3The findings recently appeared in a study in the publication Current Biology. 4The findings suggest Beethoven's liver issues were enough to cause the liver failure widely believed to have killed him. The composer was also believed to have been a heavy drinker of alcohol, which can affect the liver. 5March 26 is the 196th anniversary of Beethoven's death in Vienna, Austria. The composer himself wrote that he wanted doctors to study his health problems after he died. 6Axel Schmidt is a geneticist at Germany's University Hospital Bonn who helped lead the research. He told The Associated Press it is established that Beethoven's sicknesses had "sometimes very much limited his creative work." Schmidt added that for many doctors, "it has always been a mystery" what exactly killed him. 7Since his death, scientists have long tried to piece together Beethoven's medical history. And they have offered a series of possible explanations for his many health conditions. 8But new examination technology and methods now make it possible to revisit health and death information by studying ancient DNA. The DNA samples were collected from locks of hair that had been cut from Beethoven's head. 9After cleaning Beethoven's hair one piece at a time, scientists put the pieces into a substance and collected small amounts of DNA, said study author Tristan James Alexander Begg. He was a writer of the study and is a biology professor at the University of Cambridge. 10Getting enough genetic material was difficult, said another writer of the study, Johannes Krause. He is a paleogeneticist at Germany's Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. Krause said the process was difficult because DNA in hair gets cut up into very small pieces. 11But finally, after using up almost 3 meters of Beethoven's hair, the team was able to piece together a genome that they could test for signs of genetic disease, Krause said. 12The question of what caused Beethoven's hearing loss remains unanswered, said Ohio State University's Dr. Avraham Z. Cooper. He was not involved in the study. Cooper said that mystery might continue forever because genetics can only show us half of the "nature and nurture" elements that make up our health. 13However, Cooper added that the mystery is part of what makes Beethoven so interesting and popular: "I think the fact that we can't know is OK," he said. 14I'm Bryan Lynn. 15The Associated Press reported this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the report for VOA Learning English. 16______________________________________________________________ 17Words in This Story 18composer - n. someone who writes music 19sample - n. a small amount of something that gives you information about the thing it was taken from 20author - n. someone who writes, originates or creates something 21paleogeneticist - n. a geneticist whose specialty is paleogenetics 22genome - n. the complete set of genetic material of a human, animal, plant or other living thing 23nurture - v. to take care of, feed and protect someone or something, especially young children or plants 24__________________________________________________________________ 25What do you think of this story? We want to hear from you. We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 26Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.