1. The Mystery of the Romanov’s

2. The Royal Russian Family
Nicholas II was the last tsar of Russia
He and has wife Tsarina Alexandra had five children
Olga
Tatiana
Maria
Anastasia
Alexei

3. Tatiana
Olga
Maria
Anastasia
Alexandra
Nicholas II
Alexei

4. Nicholas & Alexandra
On April 20, 1894, Czarevitch Nicholas II proposed to Princess Alexandra of Hesse. Although
seen by the Russian people as a cold, unhappy German princess
numerous letters document a lifelong love that existed between "Niki" and "Alix."

5. The Romanov Children
The Czar and Czarina Alexandra produced five children.
The first two daughters, known as the "Big Pair," were named Olga and Tatiana.
The next two daughters – the "Little Pair" – were Maria and Anastasia.
Then finally an heir to the throne, Prince Alexei, was born.

8. The Royal Family
Alexei, the only son, destined to be the next tsar, had hemophilia
Virtually untreatable and usually led to untimely death
In desperation, Alexandria began to rely on Rasputin, a mystic, who seemed to be able to help Alexei during bleeding episodes

9. Rasputin healer for the young Alexei
Called upon when doctors couldn’t help him with his hemophilia
Alexandra believed that Rasputin was the only one who could cure Alexei
He warned that the destiny of both the Tsarevich and the Romanov dynasty were "irrevocably linked to him"

10. Problems for the Tsar
The mounting pressure of World War I and economic hardship led to massive discontent with the Tsar
In addition Alexandra began to consult Rasputin on domestic policy while the Tsar was absent leading troops in WW I, further alienating the Russian people
The Tsar was forced to abdicate in March, 1917

11. Rasputin’s Death Russian officials decided that Rasputin should die
they fed Rasputin poisoned wine and tea cakes but they did not affect him
Dismayed, they shot him twice but he lived
it was only when they bound his body and threw it into the Neva River that he died.

12. Final Days
Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks took full control of the revolution and sought to govern the land.

13. Final Days Family put under house arrest by the Bolsheviks
Became a problem for Lenin
Many still saw Nicholas as the legitimate ruler of Russia

14. Execution
On the night of July 17th, the family was awoken and told that there was trouble and that they would be safer in the basement
The whole family, the family doctor,and three servants went to the basement. A group of twelve Red Army soldiers appeared in the basement and shot those there.
The legend has it that the princesses had to be finished off with bayonets as they had stuffed jewels in their blouses which had deflected the bullets.
According to the Yurovsky (the man who carried out the execution) the bodies were soaked in acid, burned, and thrown down a mineshaft

15. Execution Room

16. Missing Bodies
The next morning, fearing the discovery of the bodies, Yurovsky ordered the bodies retrieved to be buried elsewhere
However, the vehicle carrying the bodies broke down and they were buried in a pit along a cart track

17. Locating the Remains
In 1979 a grave was discovered and believed to contain the bodies of the Tsar, his family and servants
Authenticity of the remains was questioned
Only nine bodies were found. (Yurovsky explained that two of the bodies were incinerated and not removed from the mineshaft)
Popular rumor that Anastasia had miraculously been survived
In 1995 and the fall of the Soviet Union that permission was given for the bodies to be exhumed and examined

18. Authentication of the Remains
Fingerprints
Dental records
Physical Inspection
Evidence of crushing blows, bayonet thrusts and bullet wounds were apparent and consistent with reports of the execution

19. Authentication of the Remains
Reconstruction of the remains
Nine skeletons were painstakingly reconstructed from 700 bone fragments which were consistent with ages and genders of those known to be executed

20. Authentication of the Remains
Nuclear DNA Fingerprinting
Proved that three young women were the daughters of one of the adult males
Insufficient DNA for complete analysis

21. Authentication of the Remains
Mitochondrial DNA Analysis
Mitochondrial DNA from living and dead (but known relatives) of the Tsar & his family established that the remains were indeed theirs

22. Anna Anderson Emerges

23. Final Mystery
Anna Anderson continued to claim until her death in 1984 that she was the missing princess, Anastasia
A small sample of tissue from Anna Anderson which had been removed during an earlier surgery was tested in 1994
Proved that she was not a member of the royal Romanov family and was born to a middle class family in Poland

24. So what does this have to do with Genetics?
Learn how to read a PEDIGREE.
Learn the inheritance pattern of HEMOPHILIA.

25. Sex-Linkage
Traits controlled by genes located on the sex chromosomes are called sex-linked traits.
The gene for a protein that helps blood clot is on the X chromosome.
If this gene is mutated (deletion, point mutation, etc), it may cause HEMOPHILIA.
Heterozygotes are carriers & may pass trait on to children, but themselves appear normal.
Other sex-linked traits are red-green colorblindness, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and Fragile X syndrome.

26. Royal Family Pedigree

27. Pedigrees Each row represents a generation
Genders represented by different shapes
Affected individuals indicated by shading
Carriers indicated by half shading

28. Reading a Pedigree
Sometimes, carriers are indicated this way.

29. Pedigree Problems: Tips
Recessive: trait usually skips a generation
Dominant: trait shows up often
Autosomal: trait seen in both genders
Sex-linked: trait seen usually in 1 gender

30. Sample Pedigrees

31. Dominant or recessive trait? Autosomal or sex-linked?
Pedigree Practice
Dominant or recessive trait? Autosomal or sex-linked?

32. Dominant or recessive trait? Autosomal or sex-linked?
Pedigree Practice
Dominant or recessive trait? Autosomal or sex-linked?

33. Dominant or recessive? Autosomal or Sex-linked?
Pedigree Practice
Dominant or recessive? Autosomal or Sex-linked?

34. Create your own pedigree!
Draw your family tree like the pedigrees we’ve seen.
Decide on a trait, and shade the affected individuals. (see list of traits on next slide)
Show the trait through 3 generations in your family (grandparents, parents, and you and your siblings).

35. Dominant
Recessive
Widow’s peak hairline
Straight hairline
Tongue-rolling
Can’t roll tongue
Free earlobes
Attached earlobes
Can’t bend back 45°
Hitchhiker’s thumb
Freckles
No freckles
No chin cleft
Chin cleft
Bent little finger
Not bent
Oval face
Square face
Morton’s Toe(2nd toe)
Big Toe is tallest
Dark hair (brown/black)
Blonde Hair
Not red hair
Red Hair