1. What Happened to Anastasia Romanov?
A story of mitochondrial DNA

2. The Romanov Family
Czar Nicholas and Czarina Alexandra were the rulers of Russia until 1917
They had five children – most famous were Alexei (heir apparent and born with hemophilia) and Anastasia (fourth daughter, subject of movies and speculation for years)

3. A Family Portrait
Source: Associated Press

4. Hemophilia A hereditary disorder Blood does not clot normally
Cannot make a protein that binds with platelets to make blood clot
Any injury will bleed profusely
More common in males than females because the defective gene is on the X chromosome

5. Symptoms of Hemophilia
Source:

6. The Czarina was descended from Queen Victoria

7. What happened in 1918?
1917 – Bolshevik revolution; Romanovs no longer considered royalty
1918 – The entire family was executed at midnight
Two bodies were buried separately from the rest of the family, so rumors began at once that there were two survivors, probably Anastasia and Alexei

8. Anna Anderson - The most famous Anastasia
For years, people claimed to be a member of the Romanov family who survived the executions
1920 – hospitalized for a suicide attempt
1922 – word spread that she was the missing Grand Duchess Anastasia – she said she was rescued by a soldier who was supposed to kill the family
Like Anastasia, she had an slightly deformed foot
She also knew some stories from Anastasia’s childhood

9. Could they be the same woman?

10. Investigations
1927 – The czarina’s brother (Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse) financed an investigation
Conclusion: Anna Anderson is a Polish factory worker with a history of mental illness (Franziska Schanzkowska)
But the lawsuits increased her publicity so more people believed her story
Eventually moved to the U.S. – lived on the generosity of supporters, died and cremated in 1984

11. A Significant Find in 1991 The Romanov burial site was found in 1991
Missing two bodies
The bones contained mtDNA (mitochondrial DNA)

12. What is mtDNA? Circular loop of DNA
About 39 genes, including those for tRNA and rRNA
About 2-10 copies per mitochondrion, 100-1,000 copies per human cell
Inherited from mothers – true of all animals

13. Mitochondrial DNA
Source:

14. More on mtDNA
Human egg cell – 100,000 to 1,000,000 copies of mtDNA (from the mother)
Human sperm cell – 100 to 1,000 copies of mtDNA (from the father)
Source: Advanced BIOLOGY, Principles & Applications by Clegg, Mackean, Murray, p. 603.

15. Why don’t we have paternal mtDNA?
Paternal (“from the father”) mtDNA does not survive in the fertilized egg
Usually in the tail, which doesn’t enter the egg
If they do enter the egg, they are marked for destruction later

16. What is the significance of this?
mtDNA is usually unchanged from parent to offspring
You can trace your lineage through your maternal line using your mtDNA
All your siblings (including brothers) have the same mtDNA as your mother, which is the same mtDNA as her mother, which is the same mtDNA as your maternal great-grandmother, and so on….

17. Side note Jesse James was a famous American outlaw
His remains were identified because his mtDNA matched that of the son of his sister’s great-granddaughter

18. Back to Anna Anderson The investigation continues…
1991 burial site – tested the mtDNA of the female bones
Matched the mtDNA of Prince Philip of England (related through Queen Elizabeth to Czarina Alexandra)
But rumors still abounded Anastasia and Alexei might still be alive somewhere (and what if Anna Anderson really were Anastasia?)

19. More testing Anna Anderson – died in 1984, right?
In the 1990s, tested her mtDNA (from hair and lab samples)
Matched the mtDNA of a man who was the great-nephew of Franziska Schanzkowska
Franziska Schanzkowska was a Polish factory worker
Anna Anderson was an impostor after all

20. But what about the real Anastasia (and Alexei)?
2007 – two more bodies were found, some distance from the Romanov burial site – that of a young boy and a teenage girl
2009 – many different organizations finished testing mtDNA of the remains
Conclusion: These were the bodies of the missing Romanovs

21. Sources