The DNA test worked differently from historical evidence. It did not argue with the narrative; it did not depend on accepting the testimony of Soviet witnesses or the reliability of Soviet archives; it did not require engagement with the decades of contested claims. It produced a biological fact — here is what this tissue is and isn’t — that was independent of all of that.
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## The Genetics of the Romanov Identification: A Summary for General Readers
The identification of the Romanov remains and the DNA exclusion of Anna Anderson involved several different genetic techniques that are worth distinguishing for a general reader.
**Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA):** Inherited through the maternal line only. All descendants of the same female ancestor through unbroken female lines share the same mtDNA. Tsarina Alexandra, her daughters, and Prince Philip all shared the same maternal ancestor (through the line running from Victoria of Hesse to Princess Alice to Alexandra, and separately from Victoria of Hesse through Victoria of Hesse’s other daughters to Philip’s maternal grandmother). By comparing Philip’s mtDNA to the Romanov remains and to Anderson’s tissue, scientists could determine maternal relationships.
**Short Tandem Repeat (STR) Analysis — Nuclear DNA:** Nuclear DNA is inherited from both parents. STR markers are short repeated sequences that vary in copy number between individuals; the pattern of these markers across many sites creates a profile that can be compared between individuals. In parent-child comparisons, roughly half of each STR marker’s length should be inherited from each parent. Inconsistency in STR markers — as found in four of five comparisons between Anderson’s tissue and the Romanov remains — excludes a parent-child relationship.