Korean J Leg Med.  2008 May;32(1):55-60.

Statistical Interpretation in Making DNA-based Identifications of Mass Victims

• Shin KJ
• Lee HY
• Yang WI
• Ha E

Abstract

DNA profiles have been increasingly used as the most reliable means to identify remains from war or mass disaster. To establish the identity with such a large set of victims, special care should be taken to correlate remains with correct family references while avoiding coincidental match between non-relatives. Therefore we address here relevant statistical and combinatorial issues in the DNA identification of mass victims. A simple and general formula for the likelihood ratio governing any potential kinship between two DNA profiles was presented, and for that purpose, the probabilities that a given relative and an individual share autosomal identical-bydescent alleles were calculated. In addition, a method dealing with the allele drop-out in kinship analysis and the estimation of a cold hit were discussed.

Keyword

mass victims; kinship; relatives; probability; likelihood; allele drop-out; cold hit

MeSH Terms

Alleles
Cold Temperature
Disasters
DNA
Humans
DNA