DNA Identification in Mass Fatality Incidents
Intentional Redundancy
Although unintentional redundancy can diminish productivity, it may be an important quality control measure to use a 5–10 percent redundancy when making DNA identifications of mass fatality victims. Intentional redundancy may take several forms, including the duplicate analysis of samples or using multiple software programs for confirming matches and kinship. Also, a second laboratory might perform a duplicate analysis. To accomplish this, two cuttings are taken—and given separate numbers—when the samples are prepared. Needless to say, care should be taken to ensure that duplicate cuttings are from the same sample, as, depending on the type of disaster incident, the commingling of remains may be a concern. In such cases, it should not be assumed, for example, that tissue samples from the same shoe are from the same victim. (See chapter 9, Information Technology, “Sample Accessioning/LIMS Requirements” for more discussion on the commingling of remains.)
