Skeleton of King Richard III Identified

King Richard III has now become the oldest known individual to ever be identified through DNA. His remains had been unearthed two years ago, in a parking lot in Leicester, England. The archeologists who discovered the skeleton had claimed it to be the remains of King Richard III. This 15^th century monarch had been known for stealing the throne, killing his nephews, and ruling for two years before dying in battle. Shakespeare even wrote a play about him. The skeleton showed many signs of being the king’s remains, including battle wounds, uneven shoulders and scoliosis. The parking lot was at the site of a ruined monastery where the king was rumored to have been buried at.

But now that the DNA analysis has been completed by a team of scientists led by University of Leicester geneticists Turi King, the remains are confirmed to be his. The researchers sifted through millions of ribbons of splintered DNA strands to create a DNA profile. They then compared it to the genetic profiles in over 20 generations of the dead king’s family tree, all the way up to his living descendants.

More specifically, the team used the skeleton’s mitochondrial DNA to trace the related female descendants/ancestors in the family tree, and the Y chromosome to trace the related male descendants/ancestors. The mitochondrial DNA was a rare variant to have in England. Furthermore, going through the male living descendants and seeing who shared the Y chromosome, they found that only 4 of the 5 shared the Y chromosome. This means that somewhere in the family tree, a female committed adultery.

I think this is very interesting and really impressive how they were able to identify such an old skeleton using DNA analysis, considering how difficult that process can be. It is also interesting that they even were able to identify adultery in the family. Considering the amount of inbreeding that goes on in royal families to keep the blood “pure”, that woman might have actually done the lineage a favor.

Link to article: http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/health/genetics/scientists-confirm-remains-king-richard-iii-17487010

DNA Proves King Richard III has Finally Been Unearthed

According to the New York Times, DNA results have finally come back to prove that the remains found beneath a parking lot in Leicester, England are indeed those of the lost King Richard III.

On August 22nd 1485, King Richard III's death on the battlefield finally put to end the War of the Roses--a civil war that violently tore apart England for generations.  Richard came to the throne shortly before his death, following the disappearances of his two young nephews, who were next in line to the throne after his older brother's death.  Because Richard was one of the main suspects in the children's disappearances, he was a very reviled king with a bad reputation.  This could be one of the reasons he was buried so quickly on the battlefield and left in an unmarked grave with no recognition showing that he once ruled over the country.  For almost 500 years, the whereabouts of King Richard III's body were unknown.

His shallow grave was found underneath a parking lot back in September and the bones were put through rigorous DNA testing by very anxious scholars.  The team's leading geneticist was able to take DNA samples from two modern-day descendants of Richard III and compare them to the DNA found in Richard's remains.  The extremely rare mitochondrial DNA that is carried by only 1 to 2 percent of the English population matched the remains found in the shallow grave.  Scholars believe that unearthing the remains of King Richard III gives him not only the respect of a proper burial, but also puts his story to light and gives scholars the opportunity to clear the name of a man who was vilified by his Tudor successors.