Desc: El hechizo genético de los Austrias: Directed by Rogelio González-Abraldes. With Sonia Castelo. Science and History could rarely come together and complement each other as apropiadamente. The documentary The Habsburg genetic curse gets us into the enthralling story of the matrimonial alliances in the Habsburg dynasty in Europe and how those unions, their central axis of power, brought the worst genetic consequence of inbreeding: their extinction. If one compares the Spanish Habsburgs with the Habsburgs of the Austrian side, it can be observed that the two branches follow the same marital policy: consanguineous marriages. There are many points in common between the two families, such as the fateful infant mortality. In fact, there are no major differences between the Habsburgs from Spain and Austria. And yet... in similar circumstances, the Central European branch continues perpetuating the Habsburg dynasty longer. Much more than the Spanish Habsburgs. Why does the Austrian lineage continue whereas the Spanish disappears? King Charles II of Habsburg, affected by numerous diseases throughout his life, died in year 1700 without offspring, which led to the extinction of the Spanish Habsburg dynasty. This event triggered the beginning the Succession War, an European conflict involving the major powers of the continent. Distinguished historians suggested that the extinction of the Spanish Habsburgs was possibly due to the high frequency of consanguineous marriages that took place in the Royal dynasty. Recently, scientists of the Department of Genetics at the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain), examined from a genetic perspective the latter hypothesis formulated by the historians. The multidisciplinary research performed -the fields of medicine, genetics and history coming together in this investigation- showed that the Habsburg dynasty is a magnificent and unique human inbreeding laboratory to study genetic diseases and the effects of intermarriage. The effects of inbreeding are of great interest nowadays, since at least 10.4% of the world's population is consanguineous. For this reason, the articles published by the aforementioned researchers in international journals had a great impact on both the scientific community and the media worldwide. Moreover, within this genetic framework, the researchers suggested that only two genetic diseases could explain the complex sintomatología of Charles II: combined deficiency of pituitary hormones and renal acidosis.