Geneticists are planning to study the genes of Ozzy Osbourne to see if they can discover the secret to his ability to live through decades of drug abuse.
Despite the lives of many of Osbourne's peers being taken by drug abuse, Osbourne is still going strong and his genes could hold the clue.Cofactor Genomics in St. Louis is going to map the genes of the 61 year old singer in collaboration with Knome and Applied Biosystem. It is expected to take around three months to complete.
Very few people have had their genes analyzed, although one of the most ambitious projects in biological science's history was the Human Genome Project, which mapped the entire DNA that makes up all humans in 2003.
"These technologies produce thousands of times more data per run and at a fraction of the cost than those technologies/techniques used in the human genome project," says Cofactor Genomics' Chief Technical Officer, Dr. Jarret Glasscock. "This data will lead to even more insight into what makes Ozzy tick."
A Melbourne based microbiologist told Undercover that it is just a PR exercise.
"They claim they can reveal how he ticks by examining his DNA - impossible. They may find some anomalies in DNA, like how prone you are to breast cancer or bowel cancer, but not possible with personality," the scientist who preferred not to be named told Undercover.
"Also, his brain is fucked by drugs which affects his personality, DNA doesn't do that."
The whole idea was instigated by Ozzy, who in his new health column for the Sunday Times in the U.K. referred to himself as "a medical miracle".
Ozzy Osbourne's career started with Black Sabbath, who formed in 1968. With them he sang iconic tracks like 'Paranoid', 'War Pigs', 'N.I.B.', 'Black Sabbath' and plenty more. He released his first solo album 'Blizzard of Ozz' in 1980 and continued to record instant classics including 'Crazy Train' and 'Mr. Crowley'. His latest album 'Scream' was released in June this year.
He claims to have spent forty years of his life on a bender, during which he bit the head off a bat on stage. It is still argued as to whether the bat was dead or alive.
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