Probing Galileo’s DNA

I read last night about scientists in Italy and Britain who want to exhume the long-buried body of Galileo Galilei to check his DNA and figure out why his eyesight was bad during part of his life.  Now, as a CSI fan and science geek, I certainly understand the probative value of checking on the remains of a murder victim to clarify certain aspects of an ongoing criminal investigation.  I think that’s one of the “good” uses of DNA studies, along with those done to figure out if a person is suffering from a condition that can be treated with certain therapies. There are many other reasons to study DNA — and I’ve actually taken part as a volunteer in a couple of them as part of my interest in how DNA can help identify the causes of certain conditions.

But, I have mixed feelings about digging up Galileo just to check his eyesight. It’s not completely clear that any DNA studies will help these scientists do what they claim they want to do: figure out if Galileo’s failing visual acuity might have been to blame for some of the errors in his observations back in the late 1500s and early 1600s.  The operative word here is “IF” — as in, if the DNA is viable enough to tell them what Galileo’s eye condition was.  They want to construct computer models to recreate what his vision was like as he peered through his telescope. And there’s another IF — if it’s really Galileo buried in there.

The CSI-fan side of me says, “yeah — dig, baby, dig!”   And I recognize the scientific value of doing such work.  For some reason, which I admit is likely quite unscientific and subjective, the idea of digging up Galileo just kinda bugs me. I saw one comment last night suggesting that scientists will have to make sure it’s Galileo’s body buried in there.  How will they know?  What controls will there be on the experiment?

I’m not saying don’t do it — but I just wonder if it’s a good use of resources to solve a problem that isn’t exactly earth-shaking.