Tag: DNA

  • DNA Exclusive: How Japan Stands Firm Amidst Earthquakes?

    In tonight’s edition of DNA, Zee News prime time anchor Sourabh Raaj Jain delves into the intricate details of Japan’s earthquake preparedness, analyzing how the country continues to stand tall against these natural calamities.

  • What made Beethoven sick? DNA from his hair offers clues  

    By Associated Press

    NEW YORK: 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.

    After cleaning Beethoven’s hair one strand at a time, 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 10 feet (3 meters) of Beethoven’s hair, they were able to piece together a genome that they could “quiz” 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.

    NEW YORK: 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.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    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.

    After cleaning Beethoven’s hair one strand at a time, 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 10 feet (3 meters) of Beethoven’s hair, they were able to piece together a genome that they could “quiz” 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.

  • India joins global anti-crime network, can access database

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: India is now a part of a special international anti-crime network which allows Indian agencies instant access to a worldwide database of criminals with their complete digital that would aid in tackling transnational crimes and tracking absconding criminals.

    India recently became a part of this network that would allow India’s premier investigating agency the CBI access to Interpol’s 19 global databases containing 126 million records including DNA profiles and facial recognition images that would be extremely crucial to address crime threats, as well as locate and arrest the criminals behind them, said Jürgen Stock, Interpol Secretary General said who is here in New Delhi to attend the 90th Interpol General Assembly in New Delhi.  

    In view of this India’s premier investigating agency the CBI would be able to work more closely with Interpol to deal with the increasingly high instances of cybercrime, especially in the fields of financial fraud, child pornography and drug trafficking, said Praveen Sinha, Special Director, CBI. 

    “India got connected to this specialized database and has already seen significant results from being part of this global network,” said Stock adding, “Our databases are checked more than 20 million times each day which equates to around 250 searches per second.”

    Stock said, “We know that cybercrime and online child abuse are significantly underreported, often because victims are ashamed or in cases of fraud, embarrassed, which means that the figures we see are just the tip of the iceberg.” He added that is why there are a number of resolutions at this General Assembly encouraging greater action by member countries to use Interpol resources in combating these crimes.

    India, which became of the special network this year, will be able to use Interpol’s International Child Sexual Exploitation database that helps investigators around the world identify an average of seven child abuse victims every single day, Stock said.

    India is already benefiting from being a part of this specialized database. Supported by the information database in a recent Operation Lionfish targeting drug trafficking, Indian authorities made the largest single seizure of heroin during the operation intercepting 75kg of the drug, said Sinha.

    Help in investigation India, which became of the special network this year, will be able to use Interpol’s International Child Sexual Exploitation database that helps investigators around the world identify an average of seven child abuse victims every single day

    NEW DELHI: India is now a part of a special international anti-crime network which allows Indian agencies instant access to a worldwide database of criminals with their complete digital that would aid in tackling transnational crimes and tracking absconding criminals.

    India recently became a part of this network that would allow India’s premier investigating agency the CBI access to Interpol’s 19 global databases containing 126 million records including DNA profiles and facial recognition images that would be extremely crucial to address crime threats, as well as locate and arrest the criminals behind them, said Jürgen Stock, Interpol Secretary General said who is here in New Delhi to attend the 90th Interpol General Assembly in New Delhi.  

    In view of this India’s premier investigating agency the CBI would be able to work more closely with Interpol to deal with the increasingly high instances of cybercrime, especially in the fields of financial fraud, child pornography and drug trafficking, said Praveen Sinha, Special Director, CBI. 

    “India got connected to this specialized database and has already seen significant results from being part of this global network,” said Stock adding, “Our databases are checked more than 20 million times each day which equates to around 250 searches per second.”

    Stock said, “We know that cybercrime and online child abuse are significantly underreported, often because victims are ashamed or in cases of fraud, embarrassed, which means that the figures we see are just the tip of the iceberg.” He added that is why there are a number of resolutions at this General Assembly encouraging greater action by member countries to use Interpol resources in combating these crimes.

    India, which became of the special network this year, will be able to use Interpol’s International Child Sexual Exploitation database that helps investigators around the world identify an average of seven child abuse victims every single day, Stock said.

    India is already benefiting from being a part of this specialized database. Supported by the information database in a recent Operation Lionfish targeting drug trafficking, Indian authorities made the largest single seizure of heroin during the operation intercepting 75kg of the drug, said Sinha.

    Help in investigation 
    India, which became of the special network this year, will be able to use Interpol’s International Child Sexual Exploitation database that helps investigators around the world identify an average of seven child abuse victims every single day

  • SC to hear journalist Rohit Ranjan’s plea seeking ‘urgent hearing’ on July 6

    By ANI

    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear journalist Rohit Ranjan’s plea on Thursday in connection with a ‘misleading show’ for which he later apologized.

    Senior Advocate Siddharth Luthra mentioned news anchor Rohit Ranjan’s plea before the Supreme Court and apprised the court that he was arrested on Tuesday by Noida Police and later released on bail and now the Chattisgarh police want to arrest him.

    Luthra said that the matter needs an urgent hearing as Ranjan will be in repeated custody due to multiple FIRs lodged against him. He informed the court that he does a show in which there was a mistake and he later apologized for it but multiple FIRs were filed against him.

    A vacation bench of Justices Indira Banerjee and JK Maheshwari said to list it tomorrow. After some time Advocate-on-Record clarified that the petition is yet to be registered.

    Advocate-on-record’s submission irked the bench and Justice Banerjee asked “what is this” and said, “just because you passed an exam and wear a gown, you have started appearing in court.” This is not even on record and not yet filed, the court remarked.

    Senior Advocate Siddharth Luthra apologized to the bench for the Advocate-on-record submission.

    Chhattisgarh Police on Tuesday reached the television channel news anchor’s residence in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh after an FIR was registered against him following the broadcast of a misleading video on Rahul Gandhi for which the channel had issued an apology.

    The anchor Rohit Ranjan, however, was taken into custody by Noida Police after he took to Twitter this morning and posted: “Chhattisgarh Police is standing outside my house to arrest me without informing the local police, is it legal”. He tagged Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and SSP Ghaziabad and ADG Zone Lucknow in the tweet.

    Responding to Ranjan’s tweet, the Raipur Police, Chhatisgarh, posted on its Twitter handle, “There is no such rule to inform. Still, now they are informed. Police team has shown you court’s warrant of arrest. You should in fact cooperate, join in investigation and put your defence in court.”

    Meanwhile, ADCP Noida said, “In the course of an investigation registered at police station Sector 20, a person named Rohit Ranjan, working in a news channel is being questioned.”

    Ranjan had on his show said, “Yesterday, in our show DNA, Rahul Gandhi’s statement was taken in the wrong context by linking it to the Udaipur incident, it was a human error for which our team apologises.

    “The Congress filed a complaint in Raipur against Ranjan for allegedly “running a doctored video of Rahul Gandhi”.

    According to reports, the FIR filed by Congress said that Rohit Ranjan intentionally linked Rahul Gandhi’s statements on the vandalization of his office to the Udaipur incident in an attempt to incite public sentiments.

    Congress MP Rahul Gandhi while referring to the attack on his Wayanad office had said, “The children who did this have acted in an irresponsible way. They are kids, forgive them.” 

  • DNA helps cops trace man’s family 16 months after his death in Maharashtra

    By PTI
    PALGHAR: Sixteen months after an unidentified man was found dead on railway tracks in Maharashtra’s Palghar, police have traced his family on the basis of DNA samples, an official said on Saturday.

    The decomposed body of the man, 32, was found on railway tracks between Palghar and Boisar railway stations in October 2019, he said.

    The deceased could not be identified.

    But the bones of the dead man were preserved at a laboratory in Mumbai for DNA testing, senior inspector Yogesh Atmaram Devare of Palghar railway police station said.

    “The police continued their probe. We went to nearby villages and enquired with the local residents if any of their family members had gone missing. During the investigation, a 58-year-old labourer from Kolgaon told us that his son had gone missing,” he said.

    The labourer’s blood sample was sent to the lab for testing and the DNA analysis confirmed that the deceased was his son, the official said.

    “Five days ago, the lab informed us that the DNA samples of the deceased and the labourer have matched.

    Accordingly, his family members were informed about it…We did our bit and succeeded in tracing the victim’s family,” Devare added.