Science / Medicine : DNA Identifies Murder Victim Buried 8 Years

A murder victim’s bones were identified by their genetic fingerprints after being buried for eight years, according to a researcher. The identification was made with a small amount of badly degraded genetic material recovered from the bones, said geneticist Alec Jeffreys of the University of Leicester in England, developer of the technique of genetic fingerprinting.

Jeffreys and his colleagues reported last week in the British journal Nature that they compared DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid, the genetic blueprint of life) from the bones with DNA from the mother and father of a missing girl. The comparison showed it was “a lot better than 99.9% certain” that the bones came from the girl, Jeffreys said. The evidence was used in a trial last February, he said.