Recent forensic DNA analysis conducted in Seville has definitively confirmed that the remains entombed in the cathedral belong to Christopher Columbus, although experts acknowledge that fragments of his bones may still reside in the Columbus Lighthouse in the Dominican Republic,,,
Researchers have also applied cutting-edge genomic sequencing to commingled remains in a sealed crypt to reconstruct a four-generation lineage of the explorer's 17th–18th-century descendants, known as the Counts of Gelves
These ongoing investigations aim to clarify Columbus’s precise geographic and ethnic origins while resolving historical debates surrounding his legacy and the disputed discovery of his flagship, the Santa Maria.