Software to Manage Identification of Bodies in Mass Fatalities

A new computer software program sorts information from three different DNA tests on human remains and matches them with DNA samples taken from victims' relatives and personal effects.

The development of the software, called M-FISys (mass fatality identification system), was begun shortly after the New York World Trade Center disaster in September 2001, when it became clear how difficult it was to compile, sort, manage, and match thousands of DNA samples so that medical examiners could identify victims with certainty.

By mid-December 2001, a first version of M-FISys was ready and the forensic scientists at the New York Office of Chief Medical Examiner were able to immediately find 55 DNA matches that led to positive identifications. M-FISys was able to manage millions of bits of data from about 20,000 human remains and 14,000 DNA samples from relatives and friends. Of the nearly 3,000 victims of the tragedy, more than 1,500 have been identified. More than half of those relied solely on DNA evidence for identification.

M-FISys was developed by Gene Codes Corporation (Ann Arbor, MI, USA), an international bioinformatics firm specializing in research software for DNA sequencing and analysis. "If there is a hurricane in the Philippines or another earthquake in Turkey, we expect that the technology developed for the City of New York will be useful,” said Howard Cash, president of Gene Codes. "We want to make it available wherever it is needed.”





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