Mystery Solved: The Identification of the Two Missing Romanov Children Using DNA Analysis

Abstract

One of the greatest mysteries for most of the twentieth century was the fate of the Romanov family, the last Russian monarchy. Following the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, he and his wife, Alexandra, and their five children were eventually exiled to the city of Yekaterinburg. The family, along with four loyal members of their staff, was held captive by members of the Ural Soviet. According to historical reports, in the early morning hours of July 17, 1918 the entire family along with four loyal members of their staff was executed by a firing squad. After a failed attempt to dispose of the remains in an abandoned mine shaft, the bodies were transported to an open field only a few kilometers from the mine shaft. Nine members of the group were buried in one mass grave while two of the children were buried in a separate grave. With the official discovery of the larger mass grave in 1991, and subsequent DNA testing to confirm the identities of the Tsar, the Tsarina, and three of their daughters – doubt persisted that these remains were in fact those of the Romanov family. In the summer of 2007, a group of amateur archeologists discovered a collection of remains from the second grave approximately 70 meters from the larger grave. We report forensic DNA testing on the remains discovered in 2007 using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), autosomal STR, and Y- STR testing. Combined with additional DNA testing of material from the 1991 grave, we have virtually irrefutable evidence that the two individuals recovered from the 2007 grave are the two missing children of the Romanov family: the Tsarevich Alexei and one of his sisters.

Genetic genealogy reveals true Y haplogroup of House of Bourbon contradicting recent identification of the presumed remains of two French Kings

“…The genetic approach was successful, for example, to check the verity of the death of the legendary outlaw Jesse James 3 or Louis XVII, the son of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, who died during the French Revolution. 4,5 It also gave certainty about remains found at the burrial place of the Romanov family members, 6,7 about the biological relationship within the family of Austria's patron Saint Leopold III 8 and about the reliability and commercial value of religious relics during the Middle Ages. 9,10 The main drawback of the genetic identification of presumptive remains from historical figures is that the DNA within these samples is often degraded and that DNA contamination can mask the original DNA of the person.…”

Forensic DNA Technological Advancements as an Emerging Perspective on Medico-Legal Autopsy: A Mini Review

“…The most common type of polymorphs belong to SNP, which can be found not only in the hypervariable regions (HV I-III), but in the entire mtDNA genome as well [172,173]. Single base mutations may lead to such a condition in which both the mutated and original forms coexist as admixture, which is referred to as heteroplasmy [174][175][176]. Similarly, indel variability is also present in the mitochondrial genome [177,178].…”

Forensic DNA profiling: state of the art

“…It has also been used to identify the skeletal remains of war casualties 33,34 and in the identification of the remains of Tzar Nicholas II of Russia. 35,36 The Federal Bureau of Investigation crime laboratory in 1990 began research into the credibility of mtDNA to be used as evidence in casework, and in 1995, it published a validation study. 37 Later, in September 1996, the first case of mtDNA evidence was used in a United States courtroom to prosecute a 27-year-old Tennessee murderer, Paul Ware.…”