Question

Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra were the Romanov rulers of Russia when the Bolshevik revolution took place in 1917. During this revolution, Tsar Nicholas II was overthrown, and the majority of his family members were killed. The remains of two of the Tsar and Tsarina’s children, Alexei and Anastasia, were never found. Suppose two people came forward who claim to be the missing Romanovs. Which technology could only be used to identify Alexei?

Answer 1

Answer:

A Y chromosome analysis may be performed.

Explanation:

Y chromosome analysis is a technology that allows an individual's paternal lineage to be tracked. This analysis is a specific DNA test for male individuals, where the entire paternal lineage is analyzed, thus being able to discover who is the father, grandfather, great-grandfather and other male ancestors of an individual. This is possible because the Y chromosome is only passed from father to son and there are very few changes in the transfer chain of this chromosome, which is why this type of DNA test is so accurate in determining the paternal genealogy.

This type of analysis would be ideal to find out if an individual is the son of the last Czar of Russia.