A groundbreaking yet controversial Channel 4 documentary has sequenced Adolf Hitler's DNA for the first time, revealing startling insights into the Nazi leader's genetic makeup, ancestry and potential medical conditions.
The Hunt for Hitler's Genetic Blueprint
The two-part programme, Hitler's DNA: Blueprint of a Dictator, represents Channel 4's second attempt to analyse the dictator's genetic material. Their previous effort in 2014's Dead Famous DNA failed when a lock of hair purchased from Holocaust denier David Irving for £3,000 proved not to be Hitler's.
This time, producers successfully located a blood-soaked fabric sample cut from the sofa where Hitler committed suicide, found in a military history museum in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. To authenticate the blood, researchers obtained a perfect Y-chromosome match using a DNA swab collected from a male-line relative a decade earlier.
The programme finally puts to rest longstanding rumours about Hitler having Jewish ancestry, a speculation that Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov repeated as recently as 2022.
Revealing Medical Conditions and Ethical Concerns
Genetic analysis led by Professor Turi King, renowned for verifying Richard III's remains, discovered robust evidence that Hitler had Kallmann syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that prevents complete puberty.
This finding aligns with medical records from Landsberg prison in 1923, where a doctor documented Hitler with right-side cryptorchidism - an undescended right testicle. The programme notes that up to 10% of Kallmann syndrome patients also have a micropenis, while fluctuating testosterone levels are more common symptoms.
Historians Dr Alex Kay and Professor King explored whether these conditions influenced Hitler's psychology, suggesting he might have transformed personal physical deficiencies into ideological fervour.
Controversial Polygenic Risk Score Analysis
The documentary ventures into more contentious territory by conducting polygenic risk score tests, claiming Hitler had a higher-than-average likelihood of ADHD, autistic behaviours, antisocial behaviour and schizophrenia.
Many scientists expressed concern about this approach. Professor David Curtis from UCL Genetics Institute warned that polygenic risk scores tell you something about populations at large, not about individuals.
The programme acknowledges risks of stigmatising neurodiverse conditions by associating them with history's most reviled figure, yet proceeds with speculation that some experts consider scientifically questionable.
The most troubling aspect is that the documentary engages in the very type of genetic determinism that formed the core of Nazi race science, despite participants' stated intentions to avoid this pitfall.
Professor King's findings have been submitted to The Lancet for peer review, though Channel 4 aired the documentary before academic validation, despite the seven-year production timeline.
