Ozzy Osbourne`s Genome Reveals Some Neandertal Lineage

8/7/2014
Ozzy Osbourne's Genome Reveals Some Neandertal Lineage - Scientific American
ADVERTISEMENT
Subscription Center
Sign In | Register
0
Subscribe to All Access »
Subscribe to Print »
Search ScientificAmerican.com
Give a Gift »
View the Latest Issue »
More Science » Features
24 ::
Email ::
Print
More from Scientific American
Ozzy Osbourne's Genome Reveals
Some Neandertal Lineage
What genetic oddities does rock's Prince of Darkness and beheader of bats have entangled
deep in his genetic code? Knome, the company that analyzed Ozzy's full genome, divulges
some of the details in a Q&A
Oct 26, 2010 | By Katherine Harmon
ADVERTISEMENT
The one-time front man for heavy metal
band Black Sabbath has joined the likes of
DNA co-discoverer James Watson and
Harvard University professor Henry Louis
Gates on the short roster of people to have
their full genome sequenced and analyzed.
Ozzy Osbourne let a little blood to submit to
the testing in July. Cofactor Genomics, a
Saint Louis–based company, sequenced
Osbourne's genome; Knome, Inc., which also
helped raise money for the project, analyzed
the data.
More to Explore
WI KI MEDI A COMMONS/KAI SERJNR
For his part, Osbourne was at first skeptical
about the project, he explained in his
October 24 Sunday Times of London column. But the platinum-record artist then
began to wonder if he, in fact, might have something to offer science.
"I was curious," he wrote in his column. "Given the swimming pools of booze I've
guzzled over the years—not to mention all of the cocaine, morphine, sleeping pills,
cough syrup, LSD, Rohypnol…you name it—there's really no plausible medical reason
why I should still be alive. Maybe my DNA could say why."
Head-bangers, beware of injury , rocker
scient ist s warn
Genome Sequencing for t he Rest of Us
Live Long and Proper: Genet ic Fact ors
Associat ed wit h Increased Longevit y
Ident ified
Predisposit ion for Addict ion
Revolut ion Post poned: Why t he Human
Genome Project Has Been Disappoint ing
But what can a bunch of genetic code tell us about someone's propensity to become the
ordained "Godfather of Heavy Metal" or to bite the head off a live bat on stage?
Latest News
Scientific American spoke with Jorge Conde, co-founder and chief executive of
Cambridge, Mass.–based Knome, and Nathan Pearson, the company's director of
research, who had sat down with Ozzy earlier to go over the results of the analysis.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ozzy-osbourne-genome/
Most Read
Next Mars Rover Will Make Oxy gen from
CO2
1/5
8/7/2014
Ozzy Osbourne's Genome Reveals Some Neandertal Lineage - Scientific American
Universit y Chemist ry Labs Told t o Improve
Ozzy and his wife Sharon Osbourne will also relay some of the results—more "Down to
Safet y
Earth" than via "Ozzmosis"—Friday at the TEDMED 2010 meeting in San Diego.
St ar Scient ist Embroiled in Cont roversy
[An edited transcript of the interview follows.]
Found Dead in Apparent Suicide
Humans Have Tripled Mercury Levels in t he
Why did Ozzy want to have his genome sequenced?
Jorge Conde: The main question for Ozzy was: Is there any information in there that
could explain Ozzy?
Ocean
U.S. Should Lead on Climat e Fight Say
African Negot iat ors
I think he was curious about how he had managed to survive a pretty hard life in a lot
of ways. So there were some questions around that—how substance use had affected
him and how he metabolized things. He was also interested in specific health questions
—he was diagnosed with a Parkinson's-like condition. He was also very interested in
what we could tell him about his ancestry.
Nathan Pearson: He was really curious to know about his Parkinson's-like symptoms,
so we looked pretty closely in his genome for that kind of stuff. We found a few hints,
but we couldn't tell him why he has symptoms like a tremor. And frankly, his history
of drug abuse probably contributed to that, too.
He asked us good questions about dopamine. Many of the variants in his genome are
about how the brain processes dopamine.
Follow Us:

See what we're tweeting about
Scientific American Contributors
scicurious RT @ope_bukola: Am azing
oppty for journos, for wom en & POC
$6 0k paid fellowship in open
journalism . Deadline 8/1 5 RT & apply !
http://t.co/o…
2 h ou rs ago · repl y · retweet · fav ori te
Brainy Acts RT @phdcom ics: How our
brains ev olv ed: http://t.co/j6 Py YWzf6 S
w. @Brainy Acts
3 h ou rs ago · repl y · retweet · fav ori te
Is Ozzy the first rock star to have his full genome sequenced?
Conde: Yes, as far as I know. I can definitely tell you he's the first prince of darkness to
edbites Hallelujah the rain held off. The
ride was actually quite pleasant. Now,
dinner (which is in the slow cooker).
have his genome sequenced and analyzed.
3 h ou rs ago · repl y · retweet · fav ori te
Mor e »
Can we see in his genome any traces of his legendary rock-and-roll
lifestyle—or evidence of his body's efforts to repair any damage?
Conde: We cannot find the "Ozzy Osbourne" gene. But what we did see, as one of our
scientists refers to it, is a lot of interesting smoke—but not any specific fire. We found
many variants—novel variants—in genes associated with addiction and metabolism
that are interesting but not quite definitive.
So can his genomes tell us anything about his ability to survive so many
years of hard partying?
Pearson: I talked with Ozzy, and we looked at the genome with an eye toward the
nerves. If you think about what makes Ozzy unusual, it's that he's a world-class
musician, he has an addictive personality, he has a tremor, he's dyslexic, he gets up
Solve Innovation Challenges
Thomson Reut ers Eikon Text Tagging
Challenge
Deadline: Aug 26 2014
Reward: S e e De tai l s
Investors are flooded every day by thousands of
news items from many different sources – blogs,
feeds, internal reports, news services –
More Challenges »
Powered By:
very early in the morning. And many of these can be traced back to the nervous
system.
ADVERTISEMENT
One variant involves a gene that makes CLTCL1, which is a really interesting protein.
When a cell takes in things from the outside membrane, it pulls itself in like a basket to
pull things in. It does this in all kinds of cells, including nerve cells. He has two copies of
an unusual variant that makes a grossly different version of the protein than most
people produce. Here's a gene that's central to how nerve cells communicate with each
other, so it's curious to us to see a grossly different protein variant. It's thought
provoking.
Latest from SA Blog Network
The Theory of Every t hing: St ephen Hawking
Biopic Trailer Released
We didn't find anything that can explain to you from point A to point B why Ozzy can
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ozzy-osbourne-genome/
PsiVid | 4 hours ago
2/5
8/7/2014
Ozzy Osbourne's Genome Reveals Some Neandertal Lineage - Scientific American
think up good songs or why he is so addicted to cocaine, but we found some things that
Get Beer Off Oil – A visit wit h Hermit
would be interesting to follow up on.
Thrush Brewery [Happy Hour #4]
Food Matters | 12 hours ago
Such as?
Pearson:
Subscribe
Alcohol dehydrogenase
News & Features
genes.
Topics
They'reBlogs
involved
Videos
in breaking
& Podcasts
down
Education
alcohol
Vaquit a Porpoise about t o Go Ext inct , Only
Citizen Science
SA Magazine
97 Remain
when you drink. Ozzy has an unusual variant near one of his alcohol dehydrogenase
genes, ADH4, that help regulate how much of the protein gets made. Given his
troubles with alcohol in the past, obviously we would like to clarify why his body
SA Mind
Books
Extinction Countdown | 15 hours ago
What will t he fut ure of educat ion look like?
Anthropology in Practice | 16 hours ago
responds differently than other people's.
What predict s NBA success?
Did his genome show any predisposition for serious diseases?
Pearson: He's a 61-year-old healthy guy, and that speaks for itself. That suggests he's
done okay in the genetic lottery.
MIND
Beautiful Minds | August 5, 2014
News From Our Partners
It also speaks to how early on we are in this field. Genome-wide association studies are
notoriously weak in identifying variants that strongly determine our health. They look
U.S. Should Lead on Climat e Fight Say
at variants that are common in the population. Those are easy to look at, but variants
African Negot iat ors
don't get to be common in the population if they're very harmful. It's clear now that
you have to look also—and especially—at rare variants. And like everyone, Ozzy
carries several hundred thousand variants that have never been seen by scientists. It's
going to be a while before we get enough data as a society to understand those
St ar Scient ist Embroiled in Cont roversy
Found Dead in Apparent Suicide
variants.
Cause of My st erious Siberian Holes Possibly
Were there any big surprises hiding in his genome?
Pearson: For a long time we thought that Neandertals didn't have any descendents
today, but it turns out that Asians and Europeans have some evidence of Neandertal
lineage—like a drop in the bucket. We found a little segment on Ozzy's chromosome 10
Found
Which Ocean Species Will Out last t he Rising
Acidit y of Seawat er?
that very likely traces back to a Neandertal forebearer.
ADVERTISEMENT
Ozzy, of course, was tickled to hear this. But Knome founder George Church's genome
has about three times as much Neandertal, which we thought was funny.
What has Ozzy's response to the findings been so far?
Pearson: From what I can tell, Ozzy was really very sincerely interested in this. He is
really very engaged. As I was leaving Ozzy's home, I was in the atrium—and I think he
had thought I had already left for my cab, but I could hear him say to his assistant [in
an Osbourne-like accent], "That was really interesting."
What can we learn from Ozzy's genome?
Pearson: I think one lesson is understanding music. It's a pretty interesting thing we
do at humans—that some of us can synchronize to a beat, that we like to sing songs.
But we don't understand it well genetically, so one of the open questions is we'll get a
ADVERTISEMENT
better understanding of what makes a good musician, what kinds of variants help us
X
keep a beat, make a good tune. I think looking ahead, sequencing the genomes of more
musicians would be a goodGet
idea.Total Access
to our Digital
Anthology
If you could sequence any other celebrity genomes, whose would you
1,200 Articles
choose?
Pearson: Ozzy suggested Keith
Richards.
Our> partners who did the sequencing
Order Now
- Just $39!
suggested we sequence Ozzie Smith, the baseball player, as a control. He's always been
a good teetotaler.
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Samara State Aerospace University
Rights & Permissions
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ozzy-osbourne-genome/
Science Jobs of the Week
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Samara State Aerospace University
3/5
8/7/2014
Ozzy Osbourne's Genome Reveals Some Neandertal Lineage - Scientific American
Share this Article:
       
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Samara State Aerospace University
More jobs from Naturejobs.com »
Comments
Oldest - Newest
SteveinOG
October 26, 2010, 8:07 PM
Dear Ms. Harmon,
Honestly, Ozzy's extraordinary career is due to his musical genius and his astonishingly original
showmanship. What has that to do with a infinitesimal, probably non-encoding, raft of detritis in
the ocean of his DNA?
Didn't you consider that what you, and the headline, are implying is simply absurd? Come on, this
is supposed to be S.A.
With all due respect,
Steve
Report as Abuse
|
Link to This
Dolmance
October 26, 2010, 8:12 PM
All famous people have Neandertal lineage. They also run the media and own all the banks.
We're better than you. And we never left. We've always been here and we always will be.
Report as Abuse
|
Link to This
John_Toradze
October 26, 2010, 9:39 PM
Hmm. This needs a LOT more data.
But behavior does not equal genetics. To get a control, go into the family history of alcohol and
drug use, not just one guy.
Report as Abuse
|
Link to This
jtdwyer
October 26, 2010, 10:12 PM
This would make a very good article for The Rolling Stone, not so much Scientific America.
Report as Abuse
yrral86

|
Link to This
John_Toradze
October 26, 2010, 10:15 PM
I volunteer my family! Seriously... send me some kits, it will be the best thing many of them will
ever do for humanity.
Report as Abuse
|
Link to This
Ungolythe
October 26, 2010, 11:34 PM
SteveinOG,
I see no implication that Ozzy's musical talent is somehow related to his Neanderthal lineage. I see
where you are coming from however in that it may give people the wrong impression about his
lineage and what it means but those who may say "aha! Well that explains things.." may actually
learn something such as "Pearson: For a long time we thought that Neandertals didn't have any
descendents today, but it turns out that Asians and Europeans have some evidence of Neandertal
lineage—like a drop in the bucket." and that Knome's founder has 3 times as much.
Report as Abuse
|
Link to This
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ozzy-osbourne-genome/
4/5
8/7/2014
Ozzy Osbourne's Genome Reveals Some Neandertal Lineage - Scientific American
JamesDavis
October 27, 2010, 8:06 AM
What about people who do not have any Neanderthal DNA in them and why don't they any
Neanderthal DNA in them? Since it is claimed that we ALL came from the southern tip of Africa,
have you done any testing for Neanderthal DNA in the people there, and have you tested any
people in the Outback of Australia? If there are more people in Africa and Australia with
Neanderthal DNA in them, then where did the people with no Neanderthal DNA in them come
from?
Report as Abuse
|
Link to This
dbtinc
October 27, 2010, 9:47 AM
boy, there's an unexpected revelation!
Report as Abuse
grunt

|
Link to This
Dolmance
October 27, 2010, 10:53 AM
Are you suggesting Reincarnation??
Report as Abuse
|
Link to This
Astorix
October 27, 2010, 11:12 AM
I am more and more interested in the linkage between Neanderthal and autism that many
scientists are exploring. Another interesting linkage is Neanderthal and red haired people. My
daughter is autistic and her grandmother and great grandmother both had red hair. Neanderthal
kids grew up fast, tended to be taller and stronger than modern humans. Alex is already taller than
her classmates, has size 7 shoes at age 9. She has a natural homing pigeon instinct, never gets lost,
remembers a place after being there once and is great with her hands. Neanderthals were tool
makers and artists. Look at the Neanderthal cave paintings. Exquisite skill.
You look at Ozzy Osborne and his musical skills and hmmm. You do wonder, eh?
Report as Abuse
|
Link to This
More Comments
You must sign in or register as a ScientificAmerican.com member to submit a comment.
Scientific American is a trademark of Scientific American, Inc., used with permission
© 2014 Scientific American, a Division of Nature America, Inc.
YES! Send me a free issue of Scientific
All Rights Reserved.
American with no obligation to continue
the subscription. If I like it, I will be billed
for the one-year subscription.
Subscribe Now
Advertise
About Scientific American
Subscribe
Special Ad Sections
Press Room
Renew Your Print Subscription
SA Custom Media and
Partnerships
Site Map
Print Subscriber Customer
Service
Science Jobs
Partner Network
International Editions
Terms of Use
Privacy Policy
Use of Cookies
Buy Back Issues
FAQs
Contact Us
Travel
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ozzy-osbourne-genome/
5/5