Sacred science
For DNA analysts, putting a name to a service member's remains is more than just a job

by Joseph M. de Leon
News-Post Staff

	A lab technician works in the DNA amplification laboratory at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology DNA Identification Lab in Rockville recently. Staff photo by Sam Yu View additional photos:
	The identification process Recovery - discovering and collecting human remains in the field, often after years of exposure to the elements Extraction - grinding recovered tissue, often bone, to expose the DNA Amplification - multiplying existing DNA using polymerase chain reaction, a process that creates millions of copies Sequencing - using a gel to separate amplified fragments of DNA to create a printed profile Analysis - comparing the DNA profile to a known sample taken from the service member or a maternal relative
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ROCKVILLE — Inside a nondescript building, dozens of men and women in white lab coats spend their days grinding bone fragments to bits, monitoring robotic arms that drip solutions from pipettes and examining complex charts displaying DNA profiles.

They never know quite what to expect when they come to work.

Monday might bring a tooth found in Southeast Asia, while Wednesday might offer a sliver of bone from a European city. The remains come in plastic bags, marked with nothing more than a bar code.

While the scientists don't know what might come from their analysis, their intensity doesn't falter. They believe their effort is a sacred mission.

Their work, part of a process that likely began months earlier during an archaeological dig, seeks to identify the roughly 88,000 U.S. service members since World War II whose remains are unaccounted-for.

By the end of the process, scientists with the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology DNA Identification Lab might be able to put a name to the remains of a service member who has been lost for as many as 60 years.

Mark Wadhams, a DNA analyst at the institute, said those cases remind him of what an honor it is to identify those who gave their lives defending freedom.

"When it's the only sample, we make it a priority. Not that it makes you treat it any different, but it certainly heightens your awareness."

Scientists process about 33 samples each week, but are able to positively identify only about 85 percent. That identification is passed on to casualty service officers who discuss the findings with family members.

Many have waited decades to find out what happened to their loved ones.

"Our program is tremendous and we have a successful track record," said Jim Canik, deputy program manager for the institute. "But we can never lose sight of the family members."

 

How it's done

At the lab, the surfaces of remains are cleaned to remove any contaminants, then ground to the consistency of sand. That increases the surface area, exposing the maximum amount of DNA.

If DNA is present, it is multiplied using a chemical reaction that creates millions of copies, known as amplification.

The solution is dripped into a gel that separates the amplified fragments of DNA — like a filter — to create a printed profile. The profile is compared to a known sample taken from the service member or a maternal relative.

The process isn't infallible.

While DNA may be reliable, it's not indestructible. Heat, chemicals and the sun's ultraviolet radiation can degrade it. Still, it remains the best way to identify human remains.

For the 88,000 missing, the lab has about 1,930 oral swabs from a maternal relative stored at the laboratory to identify those missing or killed in action before 1991. The DNA will be compared to the service member's own sample collected from an old toothbrush or the sweatband of a hat.

For those missing or killed in action after 1991, the Department of Defense founded the Armed Forces Repository of Specimen Samples for the Identification of Remains.

The repository holds more than 5 million blood-stained cards of current and former troops. The cards are used to identify remains when traditional methods, such as fingerprints or dental records, are unavailable.

 

Painstaking, but worth it

Canik said DNA identification isn't as easy as it looks on TV.

"The technology is great, but you have to understand the limitations, and it's difficult to know what happened during the fog of war," he said. "Identification is a tentative thing because there is no golden bullet that will solve every case."

After death, the extent of decomposition depends on the environment and how much time has passed. A cool, dry region will preserve a body better than a humid jungle, Canik said. Remains recovered from salt water suffer the most degradation.

Traditional records don't always help identify a lost service member. Teeth are the most durable part of the body, but sometimes dental records are lost. Fingerprints can distinguish people, but limbs are often lost during battle or in a crash.

DNA is durable, and even a trace amount can identify someone. It's been known to withstand thousands of years buried in a frozen tundra.

"DNA is usually the first step in the identification process," Canik said. "The pieces start falling together, but even the easiest cases can take a good four weeks to identify."

For Mike Fasano, a DNA analyst at the institute, meeting families of those he's helped identify brings new meaning to the work he does. In his office, he keeps rubbings from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial of names he has linked to remains.

Fasano sometimes attends family updates, where representatives from the Department of Defense tell relatives what happened to their loved ones. The families often bring a box of photographs, letters and artifacts.

"Hairs stand up on the back of my neck when they tell you their life history," Fasano said. "Unless you sit down with a family that has that box, you don't understand why we do this. We do it for them."