While this story has surfaced nine years ago, Bill Sullivan, a professor at the Indiana University School of Medicine has recently published a book titled, Pleased to Meet Me: Genes, Germs and the Curious Forces that Make Us Who We Are (order here), and there’s an excerpt confirming “Ozzy is indeed a genetic mutant.” Back in 2010, Knome, Massachusetts-based research company decided to run a test on someone who had the musical talents as Ozzy Osbourne and used a blood sample taken from the prince of darkness himself. The test was designed to track his genetic components in order to understand how he was able to survive through his massive alcohol and drug consumption for many years. The discovery resulted in a “never-before-seen mutation,’ which could explain Osbourne’s invincible partying days.
Sullivan’s book continues to explore the ways we’re shaped by our DNA and the biological factors that can affect how our genes are expressed. And Ozzy’s one-of-a-kind genetic mutation is just one of them.
According to ABC News from 2010, Ozzy wasn’t originally for this experiment. However, he later wrote in his health advice column at the time for the Sunday Times of London, The Wisdom of Oz:
“I was curious … 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 … you name it — there’s really no plausible medical reason why I should still be alive. Maybe my DNA could say why.”
Ozzy’s wife, Sharon, always knew there was something special about him as she once said:
“I’ve always said that at the end of the world there will be roaches, Ozzy and Keith Richards. He’s going to outlive us all. That fascinated me — how his body can endure so much.”
