1st Edition
by Angie Ambers (Editor)
Forensic Genetic Approaches for Identification of Human Skeletal Remains: Challenges, Best Practices, and Emerging Technologies
provides best practices on processing bone samples for DNA testing. The
book outlines forensic genetics tools that are available for the
identification of skeletal remains in contemporary casework and
historical/archaeological investigations. Although the book focuses
primarily on the use of DNA for direct identification or kinship
analyses, it also highlights complementary disciplines often used in
concert with genetic data to make positive identifications, such as
forensic anthropology, forensic odontology, and forensic art/sculpting.
Unidentified
human remains are often associated with tragic events, such as fires,
terrorist attacks, natural disasters, war conflicts, genocide, airline
crashes, homicide, and human rights violations under oppressive
totalitarian regimes. In these situations, extensive damage to soft
tissues often precludes the use of such biological samples in the
identification process. In contrast, bone material is the most
resilient, viable sample type for DNA testing. DNA recovered from bone
often is degraded and in low quantities due to the effects of human
decomposition, environmental exposure, and the passage of time. The
complexities of bone microstructure and its rigid nature make skeletal
remains one of the most challenging sample types for DNA testing.