Lincoln’s DNA sought for testing
Philadelphia Inquirer
PHILADELPHIA — One hundred and forty-four years ago Tuesday, Abraham Lincoln was watching a play at Ford’s Theatre in Washington when John Wilkes Booth slipped into the president’s box and shot him.
Lincoln died the next morning, and now his blood and brain matter — on part of a pillowcase at a Philadelphia museum — are being sought for DNA testing that may definitely solve a medical mystery.
Was the 16th president dying of cancer at the time of the assassination?
John Sotos, a cardiologist, an author and a consultant for the television series “House,” wants to test the artifact to confirm what eyewitness accounts and 130 period images already tell him: Lincoln had a rare genetic cancer syndrome called multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2B (MEN2B).
But Sotos’ request has stirred an ethical and scientific debate on the board of directors of the Grand Army of the Republic Museum and Library, an off-the-beaten-path Civil War institution.
Should the museum grant permission for the testing and enjoy the spotlight when the results are announced?
Or should it reject Sotos’ request, avoid damaging the artifact, and honor the wishes of Robert Todd Lincoln to leave his father in peace?
The answers will come at a museum board meeting, likely to be held May 5, during a time of heightened interest in Lincoln. This year is the bicentennial of his birth.
“This is the Shroud of Turin of Civil War history,” said Andy Waskie, a board member, a Philadelphia historian, and an assistant professor of language and history at Temple University. “We are guardians in trusteeship of this extraordinarily important artifact.
“On the basis of pure science, the testing is of interest. We have not eliminated it as an option ... but we want more information.”
The board turned to biologist and Civil War buff Gary Grove for advice.
The question in the DNA debate “is not whether we can do the testing but whether we should do it,” said Grove, who is vice president of research and development at cyberDERM, a Broomall, Pa., firm that tests skin-care products.
In his book “The Physical Lincoln,” Sotos, of Palo Alto, Calif., notes that “he is history’s tallest president, at 6 feet, 3 3/4 inches. He was strong, and a good wrestler. He grew a beard to disguise his ugliness.”
The book shows how a diagnostician analyzes feet, hands, lips, neck, heart, and other parts of the body to conclude that Lincoln had MEN2B.
Lincoln “suffered from a very rare genetic disorder that affected him, literally, from toe to skull,” Sotos wrote. “The physical Lincoln was just as rare as the mental Lincoln.”
Sotos, a rare-disease hobbyist, said he was unavailable for interviews and was opposed to publicity about the testing. “The museum has not agreed to anything, and no testing is scheduled,” he wrote in an e-mail, adding later that “DNA testing is a proven method of answering historical questions.”
“In the case of Abraham Lincoln, it has the potential to do more, by expanding clinical knowledge of a rare and most serious medical condition.”
The bloodstained pillowcase fragment is framed, under glass, and on display at the GAR Museum and Library. It was donated by a man on the staff of the U.S. surgeon general who treated the president after he was shot.