Hitler Suffered From Genital Disorder Based on DNA Sample, Savants Claim

Researchers have analyzed a sample of DNA believed to belong to Adolf Hitler, which they say reveals the dictator of Nazi Germany had a genetic marker for a rare disorder that can delay puberty, according to a new documentary, Katie Hunt reported for CNN.

The most striking finding from the team’s analysis was that Hitler had a mutation on a gene called PROK2. (Photo: Heinrich Hoffman, German Federal Archive)

The research, which took more than four years to complete, was led by geneticist Turi King, a professor at the UK’s University of Bath who is known for identifying the remains of King Richard III.

King said she verified that a piece of material taken from a couch in the bunker where Hitler shot himself in 1945 was soaked in the dictator’s blood by comparing a DNA sample recovered from the blood with a confirmed relative of Hitler’s.

The researchers also said they calculated a polygenic risk score, which involves sifting through a person’s DNA to quantify disease risk.

Their findings suggested that Hitler had an increased genetic predisposition to schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and autism.

In addition to suggesting the possibility that Hitler had a hormone-disrupting congenital condition called Kallmann syndrome, the documentary examined rumors that the dictator had Jewish ancestry and looked at whether he had a genetic predisposition to mental health conditions.

Titled Hitler’s DNA: Blueprint of a Dictator, the documentary premieres Saturday on Channel 4 in the UK. The most striking finding from the team’s analysis was that Hitler had a mutation on a gene called PROK2.

Variants in this gene are a cause of Kallmann syndrome and congenital hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, King said. In boys, these conditions can delay puberty and cause undescended testicles. Hitler had no Jewish ancestry.