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Science Quickly

The quest for Leonardo da Vinci’s DNA

Science Quickly

Scientific American

Science

4.41.4K Ratings

🗓️ 23 January 2026

⏱️ 18 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode of Science Quickly, host Kendra Pierre-Louis speaks with forensic scientist Rhonda Roby about an ambitious effort to uncover traces of Leonardo da Vinci’s DNA using modern forensic techniques. Roby and her colleagues are carefully sampling centuries‑old artworks, working with extremely small amounts of biological material, to learn more about Leonardo himself and the history of his art while also advancing methods that could one day help authenticate artworks. The episode explores how forensic approaches typically used in criminal investigations are being applied to a 500‑year‑old historical puzzle. Recommended Reading: The Race to Find Leonardo da Vinci’s DNA Just Took a Major Twist “The real da Vinci code,” by Richard Stone, in Science, Vol. 391; January 8, 2026 E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new everyday: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Kendra Pierre-Louis, Fonda Mwangi, Sushmita Pathak and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura, with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Something unexpected has arrived in Happy Meal.

0:03.0

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Hello Kitty and friends are teaming up for the Ultimate Collab.

0:08.0

Joining your little ones on a fun-fueled adventure.

0:11.0

Some fun, some food, it's all inside this Happy Meal.

0:16.0

Until the 2nd of February, from 11am includes one pre-selected book or toy, whilst that's last. American science quickly. I'm Kendra Pira Lewis, in for Rachel Fulman.

0:46.1

It's been more than 500 years since Leonardo Dithynchi died. Yet in those intervening centuries, interest in the Italian polymath, who seemingly moved with ease between art,

0:50.6

architecture and engineering, among other fields, has only grown.

0:55.0

So is interest in his DNA.

0:57.1

About 10 years ago, researchers across a wide range of disciplines, from forensic science and genetics to art history,

1:04.7

got together with the goal of finding the Renaissance artist's DNA.

1:08.8

Da Vinci had no children, and his remains were disturbed during

1:11.3

the French Revolution. The hope is that uncovering his DNA could open the door to a number of

1:16.0

discoveries, including new tools for authenticating artwork and potential clues about Da Vinci's

1:20.9

uncanny way of seeing the world. Now a new pre-print, meaning it has not yet been peer-reviewed,

1:26.2

reveals that the team has found male DNA on a chalk drawing called Holy Child that's often attributed to the master.

1:33.2

The researchers say it's possible the genetic evidence comes from Da Vinci himself, though

1:37.4

not all researchers agree.

1:39.6

To learn more about this paper and the project overall, we talked with forensic legend Ronda

1:43.8

Robe. In addition to being

1:45.3

part of the Leonardo da Vinci DNA project, Rhonda is known for her work using DNA analysis to identify

1:51.1

remains of people killed during 9-11 and the 1973 Chilean coup by Pinochet. She was also part of the

1:57.4

team that identified the remains of Tsariglis II, along with other members

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