Kaspar Hauser’s alleged noble origin – New molecular genetic analyses resolve the controversy

Kaspar Hauser’s parentage has been the subject of research and debate for nearly 200 years. As for his possible aristocratic descent through the House of Baden, there is suspicion that he was swapped as a baby, kidnapped, and kept in isolation to bring a collateral lineage to the throne. In the last...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published iniScience Vol. 27; no. 9; p. 110539
Main Authors Parson, Walther, Amory, Christina, King, Turi, Preick, Michaela, Berger, Cordula, König, Anna, Huber, Gabriela, Anslinger, Katja, Bayer, Birgit, Weichhold, Gottfried, Sänger, Timo, Lutz-Bonengel, Sabine, Pfeiffer, Heidi, Hofreiter, Michael, Pfründer, Dietmar, Hohoff, Carsten, Brinkmann, Bernd
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Elsevier Inc 20.09.2024
Elsevier
Subjects
History
Molecular genetics
Techniques in genetics
Molecular genetics
History
Techniques in genetics
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Kaspar Hauser’s parentage has been the subject of research and debate for nearly 200 years. As for his possible aristocratic descent through the House of Baden, there is suspicion that he was swapped as a baby, kidnapped, and kept in isolation to bring a collateral lineage to the throne. In the last 28 years, various genetic analyses have been carried out to investigate this possible aristocratic origin. Previous results using less sensitive Sanger and electrophoresis-based methods were contradictory, and moreover, the authenticity of some samples was disputed, thus leaving the question open. Our analyses using modern capture- and whole genome-based massively parallel sequencing techniques reveal that the mitochondrial DNA haplotypes in different samples attributed to Kaspar Hauser were identical, demonstrating authenticity for the first time, and clearly different from the mitochondrial lineage of the House of Baden, which rules out a maternal relationship and thus the widely believed “Prince theory”. [Display omitted] •Independent genetic mtDNA analyses in three laboratories gave identical results•Hair and blood samples attributed to Kaspar Hauser yielded the same mtDNA•Kaspar Hauser’s mtDNA is unambiguously different from the “Baden lineage” Techniques in genetics; Molecular genetics; History
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
ISSN:2589-0042
2589-0042
DOI:10.1016/j.isci.2024.110539