Thanks to a few 800-year-old mummies from Mongolia, Dr. Heather Coyle and three forensic science graduate students have developed a new method for preparing skeletal remains for DNA extraction. Their findings may have implications for forensic scientists around the globe.
"In the U.S. alone, the remains of 40,000 missing persons are stored in various medical examiners' offices," says Dr. Coyle, an assistant professor of Forensic Science at UNH. "If we can extract DNA through a new process, the possibilities could be tremendous. It raises the question of how far back in time we can stretch criminal justice."
Obtaining DNA is often a crucial step in identifying human remains. DNA extraction is never a simple process, and is sometimes impossible with bones and tissue that have been long buried. But Dr. Coyle and her students have discovered that baking bones can sometimes aid in DNA extraction. The team presented its findings at the annual meeting of the Northeastern Association of Forensic Scientists in New York. In February, it will present those findings to the American Academy of Forensic Science in Washington, D.C.