Who killed Beethoven? Hepatitis B, says forensic DNA analysis

Subject: Science and Technology

Section: Health

Context:

Ludwig von Beethoven, a prominent music composer from Germany, died in 1827 due to a disease unknown of that time. Researchers have analyzed the cause of death of Beethoven.

About his disease:

Most of the details about the disease was known from the letters he wrote to his brother and the collection of letters came to be known as the Heiligenstadt Testament of 1802.
In 2007, a group of researchers led by Christian Reiter of the Medical University of Vienna claimed that the cause of Beethoven’s death was lead poisoning.
Beethoven suffered from three major issues – progressive hearing loss, recurrent abdominal pain and diarrhoea and two attacks of jaundice, the last one towards the end of 1826, culminating in his death.

New findings:

Now in 2023 researchers used modern DNA extraction techniques along with a masterful method called genome-wide association studies using ancestry DNA databases on the item recovered from Beethoven centuries ago – all eight locks of his hair found by private collectors.
The genetic data study suggests that Beethoven had died of liver disease. His autopsy showed cirrhosis.
- Cirrhosis is a complication of liver disease that involves loss of liver cells and irreversible scarring of the liver.
The genome analysis found two genes that are now notoriously known to cause liver cirrhosis – the PNPLA-3 gene and HFE-gene mutation both of which are associated with chronic liver damage.
Researchers also found the Hepatitis B virus in his hair.

Genetic data study:

Genetic data are used to estimate the geographic origins of a person’s recent ancestors in genetic ancestry testing.
It entails comparing the frequencies of a large number of DNA variants measured in an individual to the frequencies of these variants in reference populations collected from around the world.
The geographic region with the highest frequency of an individual variant is thought to be the most likely location of an ancestor who passed the variant on to the person being tested.
Traditional ancestry analysis includes testing for the mitochondrial DNA (transmitted only by females and reflecting the origin of one maternal ancestor) and the Y chromosomal DNA (transmitted only from father to son and reflecting the origin of one paternal ancestor).

About Hepatitis B:

Hepatitis B is an infection in the liver which happens because of the Hepatitis B virus or HBV.
The virus usually spreads through blood, semen or other body fluids.

Symptoms:

The most common symptoms of Hepatitis B are jaundice, fever, fatigue that lasts for weeks or even months, vomiting, loss of appetite, and pain in joints or belly.
When it is acute, the virus lasts a small time and doesn’t always necessarily need treatments although it can get serious and lead to life-threatening diseases like organ scarring, liver failure and even cancer.

Prevention: