At DNA-ID, we work with various law enforcement agencies to identify criminal suspects and unidentified remains, through a process known as investigative genetic genealogy. The primary rule of genealogy is to work from the known to the unknown, and the technology and techniques we use allow us to utilize DNA comparisons from much more distant known relatives to determine the identity of the unknown person-of-interest.

 

To accomplish this, the DNA sample of the known person-of-interest is submitted to a private lab with genotyping or whole genome sequencing capability. Once the analysis is complete, a raw data file that contains hundreds of thousands of genetic markers is generated, which can then be uploaded into an online database used for autosomal comparison by genetic genealogists, where it is compared to hundreds of thousands of known individuals who have contributed their DNA profiles to the database and given permission for law enforcement matching. 

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The amount of shared DNA allows the analyst to predict the most likely relationship between the known individual and the unknown person of interest. Family trees are built for each of these matches and then the family tree data is analyzed for significant patterns, common ancestors and locations, that provide clues to the family tree and eventual identity of the unknown person of interest, or DNA contributor. With extensive and skilled genetic genealogy research and analysis, it is possible to successfully identify the previously unknown DNA contributor from his/her relatives (mostly distant cousins) represented in the public DNA database.