In July, rocker Ozzy Osbourne became one of few to submit his blood to have his full genome sequenced and analyzed.
The results are in, and it turns out his genome reveals some Neanderthal lineage, according to Scientific American.
Osbourne and his wife, Sharon, are expected to discuss the testing and its results Friday at the TEDMED 2010 scientific conference in San Diego, California.
In a Sunday Times of London column (registration required), the former Black Sabbath front man said he was reluctant to submitting to the test at first. He eventually gave in to his curiosity over how he had managed to survive years of hard living and substance abuse.
"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... there's really no plausible medical reason why I should still be alive," he wrote.
"Maybe my DNA could say why."
Ozzy did drugs?
OZZY IS A GOD
My name is lucifer please take my hand.
Well, that explains his mumbling accent.
Haha. Didn't you see "The Decline and Fall of Civilization – Part II" where he was making eggs and trying to drink orange juice. The man's brains are fried ... to say the least.
"The results are in, and it turns out his genome reveals some Neanderthal lineage, according to Scientific American."
Um, doesn't the scientific community hold that we are ALL descended from Neanderthals? It would only be news if it was discovered that Ozzy's genome revealed that he WASN'T descended from them!
Actually, it is now widely held that Neanderthals were a separate branch of early humans. So more our genetic cousins than ancestors.
That would be news to me; scientists have still never been sure if our ancestors and neanderthals even crossed paths, forget breeded......if this is true it would be a scientific milestone.
SamS – We all have 4% Neanderthol DNA in us.
TY – Its true. You missed the milestone a while back.
Actually they only tested one individual from each race. The White person tested had the most Neanderthal DNA at 4%, The Asian person had 1%, and the African had none at all. You definitely need a larger sample size to make any conclusions, but it's clear we don't ALL have Neanderthal DNA.
This is good for medical breakthroughs for cancel etc, but what happens when some nutter gets hold of the information and creates a virus that say only kills Chinese people?
cancer sorry for the typo
I was hoping for an alien connection.
Shocking!
Wait a minute, where did they get the Neanderthal gene? I thought these things decayed (which is why they can't manufacture saber-tooth tigers, mammoths, etc.)
Teeth.
The man was given the gift of music and he used that gift well. ufolou.com
He is still alive cause he is the Prince of Darkness
The appropriate response is "So am I, but what is God?"
It's amazing how when he talks it sounds like he can barely form a sentence – with all the mumbling he does. But when he sings he very clear and articulate. It is amazing he still kickin...
He's always been a stutterer. It's not uncommon for people who stutter to NOT stutter when they sing.
Maybe this would explain why Keith Richards is still alive too.
But seriously, the fact that they found neanderthal DNA is of minor importance- it's just another ppiece of supporting evidence lending credence to a theory. What makes it interesting news is that we're talking about a very popular public figure, who happens to have a great sense of humor about himself- so it's a much a piece of human interest, a piece of humor, AND a piece of scientific data. If it takes a human interest story about a famous person with a fun sense of self-effacing humor to get people talking and thinking about science, it certainly isn't a bad thing.