The New Genealogical Tree of the Da Vinci Family for Leonardo’s DNA. Ancestors and descendants in direct male line down to the present XXI generation

Abstract

This research demonstrates in a documented manner the continuity in the direct male line, from father to son, of the Da Vinci family starting with Michele (XIV century) to fourteen living descendants through twenty-one generations and four different branches, which from the XV generation (Tommaso), in turn generate other line branches. Such results are eagerly awaited from an historical viewpoint, with the correction of the previous Da Vinci trees (especially Uzielli, 1872, and Smiraglia Scognamiglio, 1900) which reached down to and hinted at the XVI generation (with several errors and omissions), and an update on the living.Like the surname, male heredity connects the history of registry records with biological history along separate lineages. Because of this, the present genealogy, which spans almost seven hundred years, can be used to verify, by means of the most innovative technologies of molecular biology, the unbroken transmission of the Y chromosome (through the living descendants and ancient tombs, even if with some small variations due to time) with a view to confirming the recovery of Leonardo’s Y marker. This will make available useful elements to scientifically explore the roots of his genius, to find information on his physical prowess and on his possibly precocious ageing, on his being left-handed and his health and possible hereditary sicknesses, and to explain certain peculiar sensory perceptions, like his extraordinary visual quality and synesthesia. Open Access to this article is  sponsored by the Leonardo Da Vinci DNA Project, Inc.