An international team of scientists were able to decode Ludwig van Beethoven’s DNA for the very first time by using samples from five strands of his hair. The analysis revealed that the composer was more likely to develop a liver disease and had been infected with Hepatitis B, which when combined with the alcohol he drank might have pushed him into an early death.
DNA from family members today reveals that something unusual happened in Beethoven’s father’s line of the family.
Researchers from the University of Cambridge and several other organizations have just released some new information about the famous composer Ludwig van Beethoven. They uncovered facts about his health, ancestry and what might have caused his death.
In 1802, Beethoven asked his doctor to tell people what kind of illness he had and why he died. Ever since then, lots of people have talked about it without the help of doctors who study genes.
A recent study published in Current Biology shows that scientists used DNA from five strands of Beethoven’s hair to confirm that the composer is from his documented family. Through testing and close examination of the history behind the sample, researchers concluded that these locks are “most likely real.”
Researchers wanted to learn more about the health issues that Beethoven faced. These included his hearing loss, which became steadily worse over time and caused him to become totally deaf in 1818. They also looked into why he had tummy problems and a serious liver illness that caused his death in 1827.
When he was living in Bonn, the composer started to get “sick” stomach problems. These issues also got worse when he moved to Vienna. In 1821, Beethoven had a yellow colour of his skin, which is an indication of a liver disease. Doctors think this condition caused him to die at age 56.
Exploring Beethoven’s Tragic Death
The scientists were unable to figure out why Ludwig van Beethoven was deaf and had stomach problems. However, they found that he may have had an increased risk of liver problems because of his genetic health condition. Additionally, a virus called hepatitis B seemed to be present in the months leading up to his death.
Dr. Tristan Begg from University of Cambridge said about it:
Beethoven’s last ten years of life are recorded in special notebooks. His alcohol consumption seems to have been quite regular throughout this time based on what is written in these notebooks. Though most people who knew him claimed his drinking was normal for the standards of that time, it still likely included a lot of alcohol – more than is good for your liver nowadays. If Beethoven was actually drinking this much over a long period, it could be linked to his cirrhosis and risk factors.
Researchers believe that Beethoven had hepatitis B infection, which might have caused his serious liver problems. This was likely made worse by the alcohol he drank and any risk of liver issues he had due to his genetics. Scientists are unsure when this infection happened or how much alcohol Beethoven really drank, though.
Scientists have been exploring the possibility that Beethoven’s hearing loss was caused by things like genetic diseases. However, studies on the samples from his hair did not find any evidence that this might be true. Dr. Axel Schmidt from a research institute in Bonn said further research is needed to understand more about his hearing loss.
Scientists looked to see if there were any genes that caused Beethoven’s hearing loss, but unfortunately couldn’t find any. As time goes on and we have better reference data, it’s possible that it’ll be easier to figure out what exactly caused Beethoven’s hearing loss.
Scientists looked for the cause of Beethoven’s stomach problems, but they couldn’t find anything genetic. They also said that it was very unlikely he had coeliac disease or lactose intolerance. Surprisingly, his genes made him less likely to have irritable bowel syndrome, so this probably wasn’t what troubled him either.
Experts have determined that Beethoven’s death was likely caused by a combination of inherited risk and hepatitis B virus, while other suggested causes have been ruled out. Johannes Krause from the Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology said, “We now have a clearer picture of what happened.”
Tristan Begg says that considering the medical background, it’s likely that different things contributed to the same result, like drinking alcohol and other factors. Researchers will need to find out how each thing played a role.
Authenticated Samples from Beethoven National Sources Uncover the Composer’s Genetics
The team did a lot of testing on 8 different hair samples from the UK, Europe and America. After that, they figured out that two of them didn’t belong to the famous composer Beethoven. One of these was supposedly cut off his head after his death by a 15-year-old musician called Ferdinand Hiller.
Experts have been analyzing an item called the “Hiller Lock” to figure out if famous composer, Beethoven had lead poisoning. However, it has now been discovered that lock didn’t belong to him so any earlier studies are debunked. In order for further studies about his health to be trusted, researchers will need to get authenticated samples from the real source of the composer’s illness.
Five samples of hair that has been proven to be from the same person, belongs to Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies in San Jose, California, an American Beethoven Society member Kevin Brown, and the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn. One of these locks was given by Beethoven himself to pianist Anton Halm with a ‘That’s my Hair!’ message written in April 1826. By studying another of Kevin Brown’s sample, named the Stumpp Lock, scientists were able to figure out all of Beethoven’s genetics. It showed a strong connection between his genetics and people living today in North Rhine-Westphalia which is consistent with his known German ancestry.
Unlocking Insights from Ludwig van Beethoven’s Genes
Researchers couldn’t find any family members of Beethoven’s that had the same Y-chromosome as him. Records show that his relatives have a common ancestor in the 1600s, but that’s not enough to match with him. The scientists concluded that this must be because of ‘extra-pair paternity’, which just means that one of Beethoven’s ancestors had a child from someone other than their spouse. Maarten Larmuseau from the KU Leuven summed it up by saying:
By looking at both DNA information and records from the past, we noticed a difference between who was legally in Ludwig van Beethoven’s family, and who he was really related to.
The study shows that someone in Hendrik van Beethoven’s family line passed something down seven generations until it finally reached Ludwig van Beethoven. He was born in 1770 in Bonn, Germany. Before this study, people wondered if Ludwig’s dad was really his father because there wasn’t an official record proving it. But the researchers couldn’t tell which generation the event happened in.
Begg said that they want to make Beethoven’s genome public so that scientists can use it to solve questions about his health and family history. To learn more about how this research was done, see the article ‘A Hairy Tale of Beethoven’s Maladies: The Genetic Key to His Life’s Crescendo’.
Scientists from many different countries looked at the genes inside of hair strands from Ludwig van Beethoven, which they used to learn more about him. It was published in a journal called Current Biology on March 22 in 2023. This research could teach us new things about our history and ourselves!
Reference: “Genomic analyses of hair from Ludwig van Beethoven” by Tristan James Alexander Begg, Axel Schmidt, Arthur Kocher, Maarten H.D. Larmuseau, Göran Runfeldt, Paul Andrew Maier, John D. Wilson, Rodrigo Barquera, Carlo Maj, András Szolek, Michael Sager, Stephen Clayton, Alexander Peltzer, Ruoyun Hui, Julia Ronge, Ella Reiter, Cäcilia Freund, Marta Burri, Franziska Aron, Anthi Tiliakou, Joanna Osborn, Doron M. Behar, Malte Boecker, Guido Brandt, Isabelle Cleynen, Christian Strassburg, Kay Prüfer, Denise Kühnert, William Rhea Meredith, Markus M. Nöthen, Robert David Attenborough, Toomas Kivisild and Johannes Krause, 22 March 2023, Current Biology.
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.02.041
