Day: March 22, 2023

Nearly 200 years after Ludwig van Beethoven’s death, researchers pulled DNA from strands of his hair, searching for clues about the health problems and hearing loss that plagued him.

They weren’t able to crack the case of the German composer’s deafness or severe stomach ailments. But they did find a genetic risk for liver disease, plus a liver-damaging hepatitis B infection in the last months of his life.

These factors, along with his chronic drinking, were probably enough to cause the liver failure that is widely believed to have killed him, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Current Biology.

This Sunday marks the 196th anniversary of Beethoven’s death in Vienna on March 26, 1827, at the age of 56. The composer himself wrote that he wanted doctors to study his health problems after he died.

“With Beethoven in particular, it is the case that illnesses sometimes very much limited his creative work,” said study author Axel Schmidt, a geneticist at University Hospital Bonn in Germany. “And for physicians, it has always been a mystery what was really behind it.”

Since his death, scientists have long tried to piece together Beethoven’s medical history and have offered a variety of possible explanations for his many maladies.

Now, with advances in ancient DNA technology, researchers have been able to pull genetic clues from locks of Beethoven’s hair that had been snipped off and preserved as keepsakes. They focused on five locks that are “almost certainly authentic,” coming from the same European male, according to the study.

They also looked at three other historical locks but weren’t able to confirm those were actually Beethoven’s. Previous tests on one of those locks suggested Beethoven had lead poisoning, but researchers concluded that sample was actually from a woman.

Scientists dissolved the pieces into a solution and fished out chunks of DNA, said study author Tristan James Alexander Begg, a biological anthropologist at the University of Cambridge.

Getting genes out was a challenge, since DNA in hair gets chopped up into tiny fragments, explained author Johannes Krause, a paleogeneticist at Germany’s Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.

But eventually, after using up almost 3 meters of Beethoven’s hair, they were able to piece together a genome that they could study for signs of genetic disease, Krause said.

While researchers didn’t find any clear genetic signs of what caused Beethoven’s gastrointestinal issues, they found that celiac disease and lactose intolerance were unlikely causes. In the future, the genome may offer more clues as we learn more about how genes influence health, Begg said.

The research also led to a surprising discovery: When they tested DNA from living members of the extended Beethoven family, scientists found a discrepancy in the Y chromosomes that get passed down on the father’s side. The Y chromosomes from the five men matched each other — but they didn’t match the composer’s.

This suggests there was an “extra-pair paternity event” somewhere in the generations before Beethoven was born, Begg said. In other words, a child born from an extramarital relationship in the composer’s family tree.

The key question of what caused Beethoven’s hearing loss is still unanswered, said Ohio State University’s Dr. Avraham Z. Cooper, who was not involved in the study. And it may be a difficult one to figure out, because genetics can only show us half of the “nature and nurture” equation that makes up our health.

But he added that the mystery is part of what makes Beethoven so captivating: “I think the fact that we can’t know is OK,” Cooper said.
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China has approved its first domestically developed mRNA vaccine against COVID-19, CSPC Pharmaceutical Group Ltd 1093.HK said on Wednesday, a major achievement in a country that has declined to use Western COVID shots to support domestic research. 

China, whose home-grown vaccines are seen as less effective than the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA shots, has been racing to develop vaccines using messenger RNA (mRNA) technology since early 2020. 

The long-awaited approval comes as infections have fallen sharply across China since it suddenly dropped its strict “zero-COVID” curbs in December, making the sales outlook for the newly approved vaccine moderate. 

But it would give China an additional option to tackle future outbreaks and a base for development against newly emerging variants, scientists said.  

The news of China’s first successful mRNA vaccine did not generate much buzz in domestic social media on Wednesday, as the country has returned to normal and its borders have re-opened. 

Its top leaders declared a “decisive victory” over COVID last month.  

CSPC said its vaccine trials showed adverse effects were substantially lower in an elderly group compared with an adult group, which could help China, which has stressed the need to focus on protecting its vulnerable elderly population. 

The company said its independently developed mRNA vaccine SYS6006 targets some major Omicron variants and its booster dose showed good neutralization effect against Omicron subvariants BA.5, BF.7, BQ.1.1., XBB.1.5 and CH.1.1. in clinical trials. 

In a study of 4,000 participants from December 10 to January 18 when China was experiencing a surge in infections, the vaccine showed efficacy of 85.3% 14 to 28 days after a booster vaccination. 

CSPC did not say how many doses it plans to produce. It said the vaccine could be stored at 2 degrees to 8 degrees C (35.6 degrees to 46.4 degrees F) for a long time. 

“The group has built a good manufacturing practice-compliant production plant (for the vaccine),” it said in a statement. 

“Key raw materials and excipients are produced by the group, which enables independent control in the supply chain and significantly lower production cost.” 

The firm won emergency approval for clinical trials of the mRNA shot in April last year, around the same time as CanSino, another China-based company that is testing an mRNA Omicron booster shot. 

CSPC reported a rise of 8.7% in 2022 net profit on Wednesday, helped by several newly launched generic drugs included in the national drug procurement program.  

Its shares rose as much as 7.7% after the result and news of the approval. 

“mRNA vaccines are an important new technology and will play a major role in future to prevent infections,” said David Heymann, an infectious disease specialist.

World Health Organization officials have in the past described mRNA vaccines as a “very solid option” for countries including China, particularly for vulnerable populations and for use as boosters

Heymann said it was now important for CSPC to share its data on the vaccine with the WHO so the U.N. agency can also assess the shot for use in international markets.  
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The U.N. secretary-general called for significant commitments and investment Wednesday to avert a growing global water crisis at the start of a major conference on the issue.  

“Water is a human right — and a common development denominator to shape a better future,” Antonio Guterres told a packed General Assembly hall. “But water is in deep trouble.”  

The three-day conference, which kicked off on World Water Day, is the first of its kind in 46 years. Activists and experts say the ongoing water crisis is a threat to the entire planet.   

According to the United Nations, a quarter of the planet — 2 billion people — does not have access to safe drinking water. It will only worsen. By 2030, the demand for fresh water is expected to exceed supply by 40% globally.  

Meanwhile, half the world — 3.6 billion people — live without safely managed sanitation. This is deadly. The World Health Organization and the U.N. children’s agency (UNICEF) say at least 1.4 million people — many of them children — die each year from preventable causes linked to dirty water and poor sanitation. Cholera and other water-related diseases are once again on the rise.   

Guterres urged massive investment in water and sanitation systems, saying the international community cannot manage an emergency with outdated infrastructure.   

Climate change is accelerating the water problem, contributing to both severe drought and floods.  

“Climate action and a sustainable water future are two sides of the same coin,” the secretary-general said. “We must spare no effort to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and deliver climate justice to developing countries.”  

Conference organizers say game changing action is needed now to manage water better and achieve international water goals and targets to prevent a more severe crisis.

The United States announced Wednesday that it is committing more than $49 billion to advance access to climate-resilient water and sanitation infrastructure both domestically and abroad.

“These investments will help create jobs, prevent conflicts, safeguard public health, reduce the risk of famine and hunger, and enable us to respond to climate change and natural disasters,” U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters.   

The Netherlands and Tajikistan are co-hosting the conference, which aims to get hundreds more commitments from governments, the private sector and civil society by the end of this week for its Water Action Agenda.  

“Everything we need to live a decent life is related to water — our health, food, safety, habitat, economy, infrastructure and climate,” Dutch King Willem-Alexander said at the conference. “Water security is one of the defining concerns of our time and will determine our collective sustainable future.”
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Tanzania’s Ministry of Health has confirmed five people died in a first-ever Marburg virus outbreak near the border with Uganda. The virus causes a severe hemorrhagic fever and is deadlier than the related Ebola virus, which was first suspected in the deaths. Tanzanian health officials say they are working to contain the Marburg outbreak.

Tanzania’s health minister, Ummy Mwalimu, said the mysterious and deadly outbreak in its northwest Kagera region was caused by the Marburg virus.

Mwalimu announced at a Tuesday evening press briefing the government was intensifying efforts to contain the virus, including with contact tracing.

She said among the five people who died from the virus last week were four from the same family. The additional death was a health worker.

Mwalimu said the government has successfully managed to control the rate of new infections of the disease and the disease remains confined to the same area.

Tanzania has never before recorded a case of Marburg, a virus that the World Health Organization says has a fatality rate as high as 88%.

The deaths last week were initially suspected to be Ebola, a virus related to Marburg that the WHO says has an average fatality rate of 50% but is slightly more infectious.

Marburg and Ebola have similar symptoms, such as high fever, severe headaches, and bleeding.

Last week’s outbreak occurred near the border with Uganda, which recovered from a months-long Ebola outbreak in January that caused 77 deaths.

WHO Regional Director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti said Tuesday officials were working with Tanzania to halt the Marburg virus’s spread.

WHO Tanzania representative Zabulon Yoti told the Tuesday briefing the public should remain calm as it deals with the disease.

“This is not the first time Marburg has occurred in Africa. It has happened several times in our neighboring country, Uganda, and they have typically managed to contain it through strong community involvement,” said Yoti. “I am calling upon community members to join hands with the government to ensure that contacts are identified and those who require care receive it promptly.”

The WHO says Marburg has also been found in Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, and South Africa and is spread by bats to people, who then spread it through body fluids.

It was first recognized as a disease after simultaneous laboratory-related outbreaks in 1967 in the cities of Marburg and Frankfurt, Germany, and in Belgrade.

A WHO report last year said Tanzania is at high risk for infectious disease outbreaks.

Peter Bujari, who heads Health Promotion Tanzania, an activist group that raises awareness on health issues and disease control, said Marburg kills quickly and Tanzania’s health facilities often suffer from a shortage of medicine and medical supplies. Bujari said the government must aid healthcare workers who are on the front line in treating patients and receiving them, so they are not infected.

Tanzania’s Ministry of Health is providing leaflets about the Marburg virus, including how to protect oneself, and phone numbers for reporting any suspected cases.
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As part of World Water Day, March 22, the United Nations is holding its first conference devoted to water issues since 1977. For VOA, Matt Dibble introduces us to a Native American engineering student who will share at that conference her tribe’s successful campaign to remove harmful dams in the Western United States.
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