On June 12, 2025, an Air India flight crashed shortly after takeoffkilling 260 people. The plane transported more than 33,000 gallons (125,000 liters) fuel, leading to a massive fire, and several bodies were charred beyond recognition, fragmented or otherwise made unrecognizable. To identify bodies, civil servants sought by DNA samples members of the family of victims. More than two weeks after the disaster, the DNA analysis completed successfully identified each person lost in the accident.
Around the worldDNA analysis is the Order to identify human remains according to this type of mass disasters, whether they are transport accidents such as the India air crash, major natural disasters or terrorist attacks. But how really works DNA analysis? And how does it help to identify the victims in these disastrous events involving mass deaths?
DNA The analysis involves the collection of two types of samples: post-mortem and antemortem. Post-mortem DNA is collected on the scene while other specialists take photos of the teeth and police from the victims collect fingerprints and note specific attributes, such as clothing and personal effects, said Kerstin Monteliusa molecular biologist with Sweden National Council of Legal Medicine.
“A DNA sample could come Any body tissue“Montelius told Live Science in an email.” The DNA sample is sent to the laboratory, where DNA is extracted from the fabric. “”
Those who collect DNA must ensure that the sample remains not contaminated, since there is a high risk of human remains after mass disasters. The environment can also compromise the quality of the sample. For example, the victims of the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center were exposed to intense fires, heat and extinction water, and in 2004, the victims of the Southeast Asian Tsunami were exposed to sea water and warm and humid air.
To minimize contamination, blood or intact soft tissue samples are generally preferred for analysis. The exception would be the cases in which the remains would have putrefi or the installation, where samples of bone and teeth are preferred, according to a 2007 article on the minimization of the risk of contamination published in the journal Legal science, medicine and pathology.
In relation: How do DNA tests say if two people are linked?
“When the effect of precise environmental factors is uncertain, it seems reasonable to collect different types of fabric sample of each victim,” notes the newspaper.
The next step is to prepare a DNA profile for each victim. This requires cleaning and separation of DNA from tissue samples, to determine the approximate quantity of present DNA and to copy this DNA using an enzyme, so there is enough to analyze, says Jeremy WatherstonMedical biologist and executive director of research and innovation at Legal science of Queensland. Finally, DNA fragments are separated according to their size, resulting in a visual representation of an individual’s DNA.
“The recovered DNA profiles are then compared to the antemortem samples-that is to say articles known to belong to the victim, such as a toothbrush or a razor,” Watherson in Live Science told an email. “Alternatively, the DNA profiles recovered are compared to the samples recovered from known biological parents – for example, the mother or the father of a victim.”
If it is led to the expected high standard, this DNA analysis is an infallible method-and when associated with other types of chemical analyzes, it can even be used to distinguish identical twins, said Peter Ellis, an Australian medical examiner who presides over a subgroup of subgroup of subgroup Working group for identifying the victims of the Victim of Interpol disaster. That said, the process poses some challenges, he told Live Science in an email.
“Its occasional disadvantages include the technological equipment necessary to drive it, [and] The need for good [postmortem] Samples that are not degraded, “said Ellis.” Remain which is completely cremated may not contain enough DNA to allow identification. “”
Although DNA analysis is a vital scientific tool to identify victims of mass disasters, the process implies many ethical questions, such as “hypotheses on the place and how identity is located, how bodies must be treated after death and how disasters must be managed” Caroline BennettDeputy professor of social anthropology and international development at the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom
Bennett Write an article On the way in which the DNA analysis process can conflict with socio -political and cultural standards, citing an example of Iraq in 2005, when the “government has strongly pleaded for bodily integrity” for those who disappeared during the Ba’athiste regime of Saddam Hussein. The Iraqi government has also insisted that bone cuts, which have been collected for DNA analysis, are returned so that they can be buried with the bodies.
“It is important to take into consideration such questions before starting the processes,” Bennett at Live Science told an email, “to ensure that the treatment of the dead is carried out with respect and appropriate care.”
