Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Ozzy Osbourne looks for clues to his survival in DNA

"The Prince of Darkness, otherwise known as Ozzy Osbourne, has ordered scientists to sequence his genome. Heavy metal howler Ozzy Osbourne decided to have his DNA sequenced and analyzed to solve a mystery. The British heavy metal icon, who became famous as much for his prodigious drug and alcohol abuse also as his music, said having his genome sequenced could offer clues about why he’s still alive. Osborne appeared at TEDMED 2010 in San Diego today to present the findings.

Why Ozzy was getting his genome sequenced anyway

Mo. bioscience firm Cofactor Genomics was responsible for Ozzy Osbour's genome getting sequenced. Knome Inc. then was able to analyze it. Jorge Conde of Knome told CNN that Osbourne wanted to learn about his ancestry and wanted insight after a recent diagnosis of a condition comparable to Parkinson’s. The explanation that came was more about his character. Within the Sunday Times, Osbourne wrote within the October 24 guest column. He said, “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. Perhaps my DNA could say why.”

Ozzy is a Neanderthal

The genome of Osbourne taught him something about his ancestry. According to Scientific American, Osbourn's 10th chromosome has "a little segment" of something there. This implies that a Neanderthal had been in Osbourne's distant ancestry. Osbourne is the only person that people aren't amazed has a bit of Neanderthal in him. Years ago, this discovery would are preposterous. 1 to 4 percent of those not from Africa have Neanderthals in their DNA as had been discovered this year. Learning about being a Neanderthal made Osbourne feel "tickled".

Ozzy wins the genetic lottery

Substance abuse hasn't killed Osbourne as would be expected with may be due to his genes. One gene in his DNA makes protein different than most people have it made. Osbourne also has an unusual variant near one of the alcohol dehydrogenase genes involved with metabolizing alcohol that might explain why his body has kept up more than would be expected in other people. This was all explained by a Knome Scientist. He said, “He’s a 61-year-old healthy guy, and that speaks for itself. That suggests he’s done OK in the genetic lottery.”

More on this topic

CNN

news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/10/29/fridays-intriguing-people-31/?npt=NP1

Scientific American

scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=ozzy-osbourne-genome&page=2

The Sun Times

thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/



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