<p>I don't think Misaka tells him, but Touma does indeed use his best reasoning and intuition figure out that Misaka is not a collaborator in the experiment before their confrontation in episode 14, which is why he doesn't take Misaka's bait when she says he must see her as a collaborator.</p>
<p>In <em>Volume 3, Chapter 3, Part 1</em> (pages 123-127) we get Misaka's perspective, and a bit of flashing back to how she gave her DNA map because the researchers said they'd use it to treat muscular dystrophy. Touma is not privy to this internal dialogue, but he does come into the scene immediately in <em>Chapter 3, Part 2</em>.</p>
<p>Going back to <em>Chapter 2, Part 8</em>, we see Touma's reasoning process after acquiring the reports on the project from inside Misaka's bear. He does initially believe Misaka is a collaborator and is furious about the Sisters' lives being used this way, but then he notices that the report, which is classified at A rank, was printed from a terminal with a C rank (a lower security clearance), and this is when he begins suspecting something is amiss. Using his phone, he starts tracing the red X marks on the map in Misaka's documents, and traces one to a particular place: a muscular dystrophy research center</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Kansaki University Muscular Dystrophy Research Center</strong></p>
<p><em>Muscular dystrophy</em>...? he puzzled. Muscular dystrophy was an incurable disease. In simple terms, it was a sickness where you were unable to send signals to your muscles, and since they no longer moved at all, they would steadily atrophy.</p>
<p>But what did an institution researching muscular dystrophy have to do with this report? His head tilted to one side, he looked up the names of the other buildings with the <em>X</em> marks on them.</p>
<p>[...]</p>
<p>Kamijou wasn't very familiar with the institutions' names themselves, but he recalled something: the news dripping out of the big screen on the blimp. There had been three cases of research establishments related to muscular dystrophy announcing their retirement of operations, one after another [...]. What Had Mikoto said about that news?</p>
<p>----<em>I really hate that blimp, you know</em>.</p>
<p>[...]</p>
<p>Kamijou had already arrived at the conclusion that this report hadn't been acquired legally.</p>
<p>He had then speculated that Mikoto might not have been a collaborator with the experiment at all.</p>
<p>What if Mikoto had refused to cooperate with the researchers...</p>
<p>[...]</p>
<p>If [her actions] were taken in order to stop the experiment, then...</p>
<p>[...]</p>
<p>He didn't know what Mikoto wanted to do. But at least there was something he could say for sure.</p>
<p>Mikoto Misaka certainly hadn't thought nothing of the experiment.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In his conversation with Misaka in <em>Chapter 3, Part 2</em>, Touma brings up that the facilities with kill marks on the map were researching sickness, but that one comment is pretty much where that line of thought dies, so the previous part I've quoted is as close as it gets to confirming whether Touma knows about the muscular dystrophy aspect of the story.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>&quot;[...] They all seem like institutes researching sicknesses, but what are those red <em>X</em> marks drawn on it? It's almost like...&quot;</p>
<p>[...]</p>
<p>&quot;...Like they're kill marks, I presume?&quot;</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Whether or not he knows the particulars, it is clear though, that Touma believes Misaka was tricked or coerced, and that she's not a collaborator.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-01-28T16:46:41.243Z
2023-01-28T16:46:41.243Z
Shaymin Gratitude
<p>I could very well have missed something obvious, but from what I've gathered from watching the Railgun anime, I can't recall any clear indication that Touma knows about why Misaka gave her DNA to Academy City researchers- that she was lied to and thought it was to help children with muscular dystrophy (ep2 at 0:00). If anything, what I've observed indicates that he would be more likely to think that Misaka gave her DNA to those researchers while being fully aware of their true intents.</p>
<p>At the end of the Sisters arc, he seems to have come to a positive mental outlook on the happenings, which he passes on to Misaka to ease her conscience, without further questioning.</p>
<p>It feels off to me. From what I know of Touma, he often confronts people's ideas and intentions, questioning their thoughts and (usually) finally punching them in the face to &quot;destroy their screwed up delusions&quot;. Ex. Misaka in ep 14 at 13:25 (no punching here, thankfully), and Accelerator in ep 15 at 14:00.</p>
<p>Here's the timeline of what I'm aware of Touma learning about the origin of the Sisters:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>ep 13 at 19:05 (Touma's first encounter with the many Sisters after seeing the dead body of Misaka 10031)</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Touma: Who are you?!</p>
<p>The Sisters (10032 speaking): Cellular clones created as mass-produced military models of our sister, Misaka Mikoto, one of only seven Level 5s in Academy City, known as the Sisters, answers Misaka.</p>
</blockquote>
</li>
<li><p>ep 14 at 7:07 (Touma reading the paper he found hidden in Misaka's bear stuffy)</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Radio Noise... How to Shift Accelerator to Level 6... Level 6? What's that? Out of Academy City's seven Level 5s, only Accelerator is capable of hitting Level 6. As a result of the Tree Diagram calculations, 128 different battefield types will be prepared, and by killing Railgun 128 times, Level 6 can be attained. Railgun? Isn't that Biribiri? Naturally, 128 Railguns cannot be prepared. As such, mass-produced Sisters were developed. Therefore, when Accelerator kills 20,000 Sisters, he will achieve Level 6...?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Misaka herself learned that the original Radio Noise project failed and was passed on to the Level 5 Shift researchers in ep 5 at 14:38.</p>
</li>
<li><p>ep 14 at 11:26 (The bridge scene with Touma and Misaka):</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Misaka: But if you've got that, (referring to the Level 6 Shift paper, which Touma brought with him to the bridge) it means you went to my room without asking me, right?</p>
<p>(Misaka's Internal dialogue, as if speaking to Touma and herself): The way you see it, I'm a participant in the experiment, who volunteered her DNA. So have you come here to condemn me? [...] Oh, well. Even if the facts are a little off, the end result is still the same. That actually makes being blamed by someone else a whole lot easier.</p>
<p>Misaka: So, in the end, you think what I've done is inexcusable, huh?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>While the full contents of that Level 6 Shift paper were never shown, Misaka's thoughts here indicate that the reader of the paper would be led to disdain for her actions instead of sympathy. Disdain would make sense if the paper indicated that she knowingly volunteered her DNA for the Level 6 Shift project, or if the paper went further back and gave the same history on the project as is shown in the <em>wiped</em> data Misaka found in ep3 at 17:30- that the original intention with her DNA was to &quot;<em>resolve a genetic sequence pattern that gives rise to a Level 5, allowing a Level 5 that is born by chance to then be produced with 100 percent certainty.</em>&quot;), or if it was left vague such that one might suspect that instead of what she was <em>told</em> by the Radio Noise researchers: that it was to help children with muscular dystrophy, which would naturally give rise to sympathy, because she was lied to and taken advantage of for evil purposes.</p>
<p>Though Touma responds with &quot;<em>What are you on about? I was concerned, of course.</em>&quot;, in context, and taking into account his caring and sympathetic character, that doesn't seem to indicate to me that he somehow knows the real reason why Misaka gave her DNA to the Radio Noise researchers.</p>
</li>
<li><p>In ep16 at 12:20 (Misaka visits Touma in the hospital):</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Misaka: But still, because of me... So many...</p>
<p>Touma: If you hadn't offered your DNA, none of them would have been born. The experiment was wrong in a lot of ways, but you should at least be able to take pride in the fact that they were born. If they hadn't been, they could never have felt happiness of sadness to begin with. Besides, they all wouldn't want to see you moping around all by yourself.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>He seems to come to a happy ending by an entirely different thought process, which is fine and dandy, but <strong><em>if</em></strong> he doesn't know why Misaka originally gave her DNA to the Radio Noise researchers, I'm quite surprised that he seems so unfazed/forgiving and doesn't question deeper about why she gave her DNA- again, given that the Sisters were designed to for Academy City's military purposes, and then to level up <em>Accelerator</em>, and that such a big part of his character is to confront the intentions of those to act villainously, or who support or allow evil to happen.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>To recap, from what's shown in the Railgun anime, Touma knows that the Sisters are military clones of Misaka. He knows about the Level 6 Shift project, and there's a possibility that he knows about the Radio Noise project (but not necessarily and not likely how <em>exactly</em> those researchers got their hands on Misaka's DNA. I doubt a researcher would find it important to admit in a research paper that they lied to a child to get their DNA).</p>
<p>Does Touma know about why Misaka gave her DNA to Academy City researchers?</p>
<p>I haven't read the light novels or the manga adaptations, so there may be information there that I'm missing. I've watched later parts of the Index anime, but not the first season (not any parts that overlap with the Sisters arc of Railgun).</p>

<a-certain-magical-index><a-certain-scientific-railgun>
Does Touma know why Misaka offered her DNA to Academy City researchers?
# Does Touma know why Misaka offered her DNA to Academy City researchers?
Posted by: username_0 on 2023-01-21
I could very well have missed something obvious, but from what I've gathered from watching the Railgun anime, I can't recall any clear indication that Touma knows about why Misaka gave her DNA to Academy City researchers- that she was lied to and thought it was to help children with muscular dystrophy (ep2 at 0:00). If anything, what I've observed indicates that he would be more likely to think that Misaka gave her DNA to those researchers while being fully aware of their true intents.

At the end of the Sisters arc, he seems to have come to a positive mental outlook on the happenings, which he passes on to Misaka to ease her conscience, without further questioning.

It feels off to me. From what I know of Touma, he often confronts people's ideas and intentions, questioning their thoughts and (usually) finally punching them in the face to "destroy their screwed up delusions". Ex. Misaka in ep 14 at 13:25 (no punching here, thankfully), and Accelerator in ep 15 at 14:00.

Here's the timeline of what I'm aware of Touma learning about the origin of the Sisters:

* ep 13 at 19:05 (Touma's first encounter with the many Sisters after seeing the dead body of Misaka 10031)

  > Touma: Who are you?!
  >
  > The Sisters (10032 speaking): Cellular clones created as mass-produced military models of our sister, Misaka Mikoto, one of only seven Level 5s in Academy City, known as the Sisters, answers Misaka.
* ep 14 at 7:07 (Touma reading the paper he found hidden in Misaka's bear stuffy)

  > Radio Noise... How to Shift Accelerator to Level 6... Level 6? What's that? Out of Academy City's seven Level 5s, only Accelerator is capable of hitting Level 6. As a result of the Tree Diagram calculations, 128 different battefield types will be prepared, and by killing Railgun 128 times, Level 6 can be attained. Railgun? Isn't that Biribiri? Naturally, 128 Railguns cannot be prepared. As such, mass-produced Sisters were developed. Therefore, when Accelerator kills 20,000 Sisters, he will achieve Level 6...?

  Misaka herself learned that the original Radio Noise project failed and was passed on to the Level 5 Shift researchers in ep 5 at 14:38.
* ep 14 at 11:26 (The bridge scene with Touma and Misaka):

  > Misaka: But if you've got that, (referring to the Level 6 Shift paper, which Touma brought with him to the bridge) it means you went to my room without asking me, right?
  >
  > (Misaka's Internal dialogue, as if speaking to Touma and herself): The way you see it, I'm a participant in the experiment, who volunteered her DNA. So have you come here to condemn me? [...] Oh, well. Even if the facts are a little off, the end result is still the same. That actually makes being blamed by someone else a whole lot easier.
  >
  > Misaka: So, in the end, you think what I've done is inexcusable, huh?

  While the full contents of that Level 6 Shift paper were never shown, Misaka's thoughts here indicate that the reader of the paper would be led to disdain for her actions instead of sympathy. Disdain would make sense if the paper indicated that she knowingly volunteered her DNA for the Level 6 Shift project, or if the paper went further back and gave the same history on the project as is shown in the *wiped* data Misaka found in ep3 at 17:30- that the original intention with her DNA was to "*resolve a genetic sequence pattern that gives rise to a Level 5, allowing a Level 5 that is born by chance to then be produced with 100 percent certainty.*"), or if it was left vague such that one might suspect that instead of what she was *told* by the Radio Noise researchers: that it was to help children with muscular dystrophy, which would naturally give rise to sympathy, because she was lied to and taken advantage of for evil purposes.

  Though Touma responds with "*What are you on about? I was concerned, of course.*", in context, and taking into account his caring and sympathetic character, that doesn't seem to indicate to me that he somehow knows the real reason why Misaka gave her DNA to the Radio Noise researchers.
* In ep16 at 12:20 (Misaka visits Touma in the hospital):

  > Misaka: But still, because of me... So many...
  >
  > Touma: If you hadn't offered your DNA, none of them would have been born. The experiment was wrong in a lot of ways, but you should at least be able to take pride in the fact that they were born. If they hadn't been, they could never have felt happiness of sadness to begin with. Besides, they all wouldn't want to see you moping around all by yourself.

  He seems to come to a happy ending by an entirely different thought process, which is fine and dandy, but ***if*** he doesn't know why Misaka originally gave her DNA to the Radio Noise researchers, I'm quite surprised that he seems so unfazed/forgiving and doesn't question deeper about why she gave her DNA- again, given that the Sisters were designed to for Academy City's military purposes, and then to level up *Accelerator*, and that such a big part of his character is to confront the intentions of those to act villainously, or who support or allow evil to happen.

To recap, from what's shown in the Railgun anime, Touma knows that the Sisters are military clones of Misaka. He knows about the Level 6 Shift project, and there's a possibility that he knows about the Radio Noise project (but not necessarily and not likely how *exactly* those researchers got their hands on Misaka's DNA. I doubt a researcher would find it important to admit in a research paper that they lied to a child to get their DNA).

Does Touma know about why Misaka gave her DNA to Academy City researchers?

I haven't read the light novels or the manga adaptations, so there may be information there that I'm missing. I've watched later parts of the Index anime, but not the first season (not any parts that overlap with the Sisters arc of Railgun).
**Tags:** a-certain-magical-index a-certain-scientific-railgun
---
## 1 answers
### Answer by username_1 on 2023-01-28. Score: 2 | Accepted answer
I don't think Misaka tells him, but Touma does indeed use his best reasoning and intuition figure out that Misaka is not a collaborator in the experiment before their confrontation in episode 14, which is why he doesn't take Misaka's bait when she says he must see her as a collaborator.

In *Volume 3, Chapter 3, Part 1* (pages 123-127) we get Misaka's perspective, and a bit of flashing back to how she gave her DNA map because the researchers said they'd use it to treat muscular dystrophy. Touma is not privy to this internal dialogue, but he does come into the scene immediately in *Chapter 3, Part 2*.

Going back to *Chapter 2, Part 8*, we see Touma's reasoning process after acquiring the reports on the project from inside Misaka's bear. He does initially believe Misaka is a collaborator and is furious about the Sisters' lives being used this way, but then he notices that the report, which is classified at A rank, was printed from a terminal with a C rank (a lower security clearance), and this is when he begins suspecting something is amiss. Using his phone, he starts tracing the red X marks on the map in Misaka's documents, and traces one to a particular place: a muscular dystrophy research center

> **Kansaki University Muscular Dystrophy Research Center**
>
> *Muscular dystrophy*...? he puzzled. Muscular dystrophy was an incurable disease. In simple terms, it was a sickness where you were unable to send signals to your muscles, and since they no longer moved at all, they would steadily atrophy.
>
> But what did an institution researching muscular dystrophy have to do with this report? His head tilted to one side, he looked up the names of the other buildings with the *X* marks on them.
>
> [...]
>
> Kamijou wasn't very familiar with the institutions' names themselves, but he recalled something: the news dripping out of the big screen on the blimp. There had been three cases of research establishments related to muscular dystrophy announcing their retirement of operations, one after another [...]. What Had Mikoto said about that news?
>
> ----*I really hate that blimp, you know*.
>
> [...]
>
> Kamijou had already arrived at the conclusion that this report hadn't been acquired legally.
>
> He had then speculated that Mikoto might not have been a collaborator with the experiment at all.
>
> What if Mikoto had refused to cooperate with the researchers...
>
> [...]
>
> If [her actions] were taken in order to stop the experiment, then...
>
> [...]
>
> He didn't know what Mikoto wanted to do. But at least there was something he could say for sure.
>
> Mikoto Misaka certainly hadn't thought nothing of the experiment.

In his conversation with Misaka in *Chapter 3, Part 2*, Touma brings up that the facilities with kill marks on the map were researching sickness, but that one comment is pretty much where that line of thought dies, so the previous part I've quoted is as close as it gets to confirming whether Touma knows about the muscular dystrophy aspect of the story.

> "[...] They all seem like institutes researching sicknesses, but what are those red *X* marks drawn on it? It's almost like..."
>
> [...]
>
> "...Like they're kill marks, I presume?"

Whether or not he knows the particulars, it is clear though, that Touma believes Misaka was tricked or coerced, and that she's not a collaborator.
---
