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21-Aug-2022
TrueAllele Database helps identify victims of terror
August 21 was International Day of Remembrance and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism.
On September 11th, 2001, terrorists flew two planes into the World Trade Center(WTC), killing 2700 people. Over 18,000 victim remains were collected from thescene. The forensic task was to associate these victim remains with the 2700 missing people.
Older methods of interpreting DNA data were not up to the task. Data wasdiscarded, and identification information lost. In 2005, Cybergenetics was askedto help solve the problem of identifying and matching victim remains using therevolutionary computer-based TrueAllele technology. Unlike manual analysis,TrueAllele can use all the DNA data and consider all the genotype possibilities,preserving DNA identifying information and leading to more victim remainmatches.
On September 9th, 2021, Cybergenetics Chief Scientist Dr. Mark Perlin spoke atDuquesne University’s Wecht Institute of Forensic Science & Law AnnualSymposium about "How TrueAllele® Computing Automates DNA Analysis andDatabasing for Mass Disasters." His talk describes the involvement of TrueAllele in the WTC project.
The story revolves around Sarah, a fictitious WTC victim. How the terrorists tore Sarah from her family, and reduced her body to rubble and how TrueAllelecomputing then worked to associate Sarah’s DNA remains with her family andpersonal effect DNA, to bring her home. Through Sarah, we can see every step ofthe TrueAllele mass disaster process.