Researchers from The Leonardo da Vinci DNA Project (LDVP) reports that by analyzing the drawing of Holy Child and other Renaissance artifacts, such as letters written by a relative of Da Vinci, they recovered from the Y chromosome DNA sequences that seem to belong to a genetic group of people with common ancestors in Tuscany, where the Renaissance genius and master was born in 1452. The findings, first reported in Sciencecould be the first time scientists have identified the DNA of Leonardo himself.
DNA
Historical artifacts can accumulate DNA from the environment and potentially offer useful information about the people who created and handled them. Gathering this material from such valuable objects without damaging or contaminating them, however, poses a complex challenge. Today, decisions about the authorship of a work depend on expert opinion, for example on how a brushstroke was created.
The LDVP researchers therefore used an extremely gentle sampling method to try to collect biological material. They then extracted small amounts of DNA, which provided useful information. “We recovered heterogeneous mixtures of non-human DNA,“ declares the studypublished in the preprint journal bioRxiv, “and, in a subset of samples, sparse male-specific human DNA signals.”
The Da Vinci Index
From the analysis, the researchers concluded that they had found the closest match within the broad E1b1b lineage on the Y chromosome (sections of which are passed down almost unchanged from father to son), now commonly found in southern Europe, Africa and parts of the Middle East. Some of the DNA, they say, could come from Leonardo da Vinci himself.
“Across several independent swabs of Leonardo da Vinci-associated items, data obtained on Y chromosome markers suggest assignments within the broader E1b1/E1b1b clade,” the study states. The results also indicate mixed DNA contributions associated with the source materials, which is consistent with modern manipulation.
“Together, these data demonstrate the feasibility as well as the limitations of combining metagenomics and human DNA marker analysis for cultural heritage science,” the paper reads, “providing a basic workflow for future conservation science studies and hypothesis-driven investigations of provenance, authentication, and history management.”
Further investigation
Although the research demonstrated an innovative approach, it acknowledges that it did not result in conclusive evidence. Although the data suggests that the DNA could be that of Leonardo da Vinci, it is very complicated to say that any traces of DNA in the artifacts actually belong to him. “Establishing an unequivocal identity … is extremely complex,” said David Caramelli, an anthropologist at the University of Florence and member of the LDVP. Science.
Indeed, scientists cannot verify the genetic sequences of artifacts by comparing them with DNA known to have been taken from Leonardo da Vinci himself; there are still no confirmed samples. Additionally, Leonardo da Vinci had no known direct descendants and his burial site was destroyed in the early 19th century. Encouraged by the first clues about Leonardo da Vinci’s DNA, LDVP scientists now hope to convince the custodians of Leonardo’s works and notebooks to allow them to take additional samples that could solve the case.
This story was originally published in WIRED Italy and was translated from Italian.
