Jennifer Higginbotham, Research Associate and Dr. Kimberly Andreaggi, Chief of Emerging Technology with the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) at the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System test remains from the Swedish warship Vasa in collaboration with the Uppsala University and Vasa Museum at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, November 28, 2024. The Vasa ship sank in Stockholm Harbor on August 10, 1628, and was salvaged from the bottom of the harbor in 1961. The AFDIL scientists processed more than 30 samples using advanced methods that helped predict the phenotype of 15 individuals. The Vasa skeletal remains provided an opportunity for AFDIL to test extraction and analysis methods on samples that had been submerged in...
Upon graduating high school and joining the U.S. military, new recruits undergo a medical day at boot camp where DNA samples are collected and stored on specimen cards. These cards are sent to the Armed Forces Repository of Specimen Samples for the Identification of Remains (AFRSSIR), which has been collecting DNA specimens since 1992 and now stores millions of cards. The repository receives up to 250,000 new specimens annually, particularly...
