Identifying Victims Using DNA: A Guide for Families

   President’s DNA Initiative , April 2005

   This 8-page booklet explains the process of identifying remains using DNA analysis. It gives an overview of the process so that surviving family and friends will understand what DNA analysis can and cannot do, describes the sources of DNA that forensic scientists might use, and explains the differences between nuclear and mitochondrial DNA.

Initiative Goals

DNA technology is increasingly vital to ensuring accuracy and fairness in the criminal justice system. DNA can be used to identify criminals with incredible accuracy when biological evidence exists, and DNA can be used to clear suspects and exonerate persons mistakenly accused or convicted of crimes. 

To increase the use of DNA technology in the criminal justice system, the President announced a 5-year, more than $1 billion initiative to improve the use of DNA in the criminal justice system on March 11, 2003. The Initiative calls for increased funding, training, and assistance—to Federal, State, and local forensic labs; to police; to medical professionals; to victim service providers; and to prosecutors, defense lawyers, and judges—ensure that this technology reaches its full potential to solve crimes, protect the innocent, and identify missing persons. This Initiative—Advancing Justice Through DNA Technology—has the following specific goals:

• Eliminate the current backlog of unanalyzed DNA samples and biological evidence for the most serious violent offenses—rapes, murders, and kidnappings—and for convicted offender samples needing testing.

• Improve crime laboratories' capacities to analyze DNA samples in a timely fashion.

• Stimulate research and develop new DNA technologies and advances in all forensic sciences areas.

• Develop training and provide assistance about the collection and use of DNA evidence to a wide variety of criminal justice professionals.

• Provide access to appropriate postconviction DNA testing of crime scene evidence not tested at the time of trial.

• Ensure that DNA forensic technology is used to its full potential to solve missing persons cases and identify human remains.

• Protect the innocent.

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