The context of this question is a spoiler.

In the latest Star Trek Discovery episodes we learn that Tyler is actually Voq, who has been surgically altered and had the personality of the real Tyler implanted over his own.

How is it possible that this wasn't detected by medical staff on board the Discovery? I would have assumed that Starfleet medical scanners would be capable of analysing DNA (I'm certain that it's been mentioned in other series') so how is it possible that:

the doctor didn't realise Ash's DNA was actually Klingon?

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    If you don't scan for it, you won't find it. Also recall that they didn't discover the full extent of the surgery until a second, deeper scan. – Paulie_D Jan 17 '18 at 12:26
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    Good question though...didn't McCoy scan the Klingon spy in "The Trouble with Tribbles" and identify the spy by hearbeat and body temperature? - "Heartbeat is all wrong. His body temperature is. Jim, this man is a Klingon. " – Paulie_D Jan 17 '18 at 12:29
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    Well, after a failure to recognize a Klingon 10 years earlier, McCoy was expecting the unexpected :) – Edmund Dantes Jan 17 '18 at 13:26
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    @Paulie_D True, but I would have assumed there would be a standard range of tests after the kind of ordeal they went through, which I think a DNA scan would reasonably be a part of. – Ian Newson Jan 17 '18 at 13:33
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    @Paulie_D Your heartbeat point is even better. Checking heart beat and heart rate would definitely have been something a doctor would check, probably multiple times. – Ian Newson Jan 17 '18 at 13:35

This is explained in episode 12, "Vaulting Ambition."

The Klingons transformed Voq's DNA too. L'Rell explains: The one you call "Tyler" was captured in battle at the binary stars. We harvested his DNA, reconstructed his conscious, and rebuilt his memory. We modified Voq into a shell that appears human. We grafted his psyche into Tyler's, and in so doing, Voq has given his body and soul for our ideology.

  • I've added a quote from the episode to support your point. If you don't like it, feel free to undo my edit. Also, I think a spoiler is pretty unnecessary at this point. If they've read through the question, I think they've turned back already if they wanted to avoid spoilers. – Thunderforge Jan 22 '18 at 20:06

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