Ozzy Osbourne has genome sequenced to explain his survival

Ozzy Osbourne, the previous Black Sabbath front man known as “The Prince of Darkness,” has had his genome sequenced and analyzed. The legendary British rock musician, who made a name for himself with substance abuse as well as singing, said a map of his DNA could shed light on how he’s survived until now. He gave a presentation of the results of his genetic sequencing in San Francisco Friday at TEDMED 2010.

Why had been the genome from Ozzy being sequenced

Ozzy Osbourne’s genome was sequenced by Mo. bioscience firm Cofactor Genomics and analyzed by Knome, Inc. CNN had been able to speak to Jorge Conde of Knome. He said that because Osbourne was diagnosed with a disease comparable to Parkinson's, he wanted to know more about his ancestry. The explanation that came was more about his character. In an Oct. 24 guest column for the Sunday Times, Osbourne 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.”

Now we know the Neanderthal is in Ozzy

Osbourne did learn something about his ancestry after sequencing his genome. Scientific American reports that geneticists found a “little segment” on Osbourne’s 10th chromosome that suggests one of his distant ancestors had been a Neanderthal. Osbourne is the only person that people aren't astonished has a bit of Neanderthal in him. Years ago, this discovery would are preposterous. But earlier this year researchers sequencing Neanderthal DNA found that about 1 to 4 percent of the DNA in non-Africans today comes from Neanderthals. Osbourne was “tickled” to learn of his caveman blood.

Ozzy wins the genetic lottery

Substance abuse hasn't killed Osbourne as would be expected with might be due to his genes. One gene in his DNA makes protein different than many 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. A Knome scientist summed things up unscientifically, saying “He’s a 61-year-old healthy guy, and that speaks for itself. That suggests he’s done OK in the genetic lottery.”

Sources

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/