Charles Darwin’s Mitochondria

Abstract

Charles Darwin’s long-term illness has been the subject of much speculation. His numerous symptoms have led to conclusions that his illness was essentially psychogenic in nature. These diagnoses have never been fully convincing, however, particularly in regard to the proposed underlying psychological background causes of the illness. Similarly, two proposed somatic causes of illness, Chagas disease and arsenic poisoning, lack credibility and appear inconsistent with the lifetime history of the illness. Other physical explanations are simply too incomplete to explain the range of symptoms. Here, a very different sort of explanation will be offered. We now know that mitochondrial mutations producing impaired mitochondrial function may result in a wide range of differing symptoms, including symptoms thought to be primarily psychological. Examination of Darwin’s maternal family history supports the contention that his illness was mitochondrial in nature; his mother and one maternal uncle had strange illnesses and the youngest maternal sibling died of an infirmity with symptoms characteristic of mitochondrial encephalomyopathy, lactic acidosis, and stroke-like episodes (MELAS syndrome), a condition rooted in mitochondrial dysfunction. Darwin’s own symptoms are described here and are in accord with the hypothesis that he had the mtDNA mutation commonly associated with the MELAS syndrome.

Estimates of Genetic Component of Variances and Genetic Ratios for Earliness and Yield Attributing Traits in Cucumber

“…Observation were recorded on eight quantitative traits viz., days to first female flower opening, days to first fruit set, days to first fruit harvest, fruit length (cm), fruit width (cm), average fruit weight (g), number of fruits per plant and fruit yield per plant (g). Gene action was studied by the diallel method of numerical approach given by [4]: D = Component of variation due to additive effects of genes. H1 = Component of variation due to dominance effect of genes.…”

Darwin diagnosed?

“…Other conditions proposed include various gut ailments, such as cyclic vomiting syndrome, and Mitochondrial Encephalomyopathy, Lactic Acidosis and Stroke‐like episodes (MELAS), involving an inherited mitochondrial mutation (Hayman, ; Finsterer & Hayman, ), irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) (Shanahan, ), and Crohn's disease (Orrego & Quintana, ). His regular bouts of vomiting certainly fit the diagnosis of cyclic vomiting syndrome (Hayman, , b, ), which is associated with nausea, abdominal pain and dyspepsia. But, this does not explain all the other symptoms from which Darwin suffered.…”

“…See (Colp, 1960(Colp, , 1977(Colp, , 1983(Colp, , 2000(Colp, , 2006 M eni ere's spectrum disorder (Gordon, 2009a, b) Systemic lactose intolerance (Campbell, 2003;Campbell, & Matthews 2005a, b;Campbell et al, 2005b;Dixon & Radick, 2009) MELAS from mitochondrial gene mutation (Hayman, 2013b;Finsterer & Hayman, 2014) Gout (Darwin, 1876;Colp, 2006) Hyperinsulinism (Lichfield, 2015) Malaria (Hayman, 2009a(Hayman, , 2013) Systemic lupus erythematosis (Hayman, 2009a(Hayman, , 2013 Pyroluria (Hayman, 2009a(Hayman, , 2013) Irritable bowel syndrome (Shanahan, 2012) Crohn's disease (Orrego & Quintana, 2007) Fearing he had had a heart attack, Darwin told no one, lest he was not allowed on his voyage of a lifetime. He only admitted to this in his autobiography (Darwin, 1876(Darwin, , 1902.…”

“…Cyclic vomiting syndrome (Hayman, 2009b(Hayman, , 2013 Various skin problems including boils and eczema (Sauer, 2000;Hayman, 2011) Psychosomatic Reaction to birth trauma (Hayman, 2013) First psychoanalytical theory (Kemf, 1918) Hypochondria (Hubble, 1943) Psychoneurosis (Hubble, 1943) Bereavement syndrome (Bowlby, 1956(Bowlby, , 1984(Bowlby, , 1990…”

“…See (Bowlby, 1956(Bowlby, , 1984Colp, 1977Colp, , 2006) Nervous indigestion (Darwin, 1876) Obsessive compulsive disorder (Hayman, 2009a(Hayman, , 2013 Conflict with religious beliefs (Hayman, 2009a(Hayman, , 2013 Various repressed antagonismsfather, wife, sons (Hayman, 2009a(Hayman, , 2013 Depression (Alvarez, 1959) See Campbell & Matthews (2005a); Colp (1977Colp ( , 2006; and Hayman, (2013a, b) for further details. some 20 gut and systemic symptoms for the rest of his life, although he appears to have been slightly better during his last few years.…”