Research
'Links with the British royal family would eventually prove crucial': How DNA solved the 70-year mystery of what happened to the executed members of the last Russian imperial family
Live Science · By Turi King ·
The Brief
- DNA analysis has been used to resolve the fate of the executed members of the last Russian imperial family, according to Live Science.
- After the 1917 Russian Revolution and Tsar Nicholas II's abdication, the family was exiled to a remote Siberian town.
- Plans to move the family to the U.K. were withdrawn by King George V, Nicholas's first cousin, and the British government.
Why it matters
The case shows how DNA analysis can settle a historical mystery that lasted about 70 years, using genetic links to a well-documented royal family.
Who’s affected
- science readers interested in genetics and forensic history
In 1917, the Russian Revolution was in full swing. Tsar Nicholas II had abdicated, and he and his family were exiled to a remote Siberian town. There were plans to get the family to the U.K., but King George V (Nicholas' first cousin) and the British government withdrew their…