TY - JOUR
T1 - DNA identification of skeletal remains from world war II mass graves uncovered in Slovenia
AU - Marjanović, Damir
AU - Durmić-Pašić, Adaleta
AU - Bakal, Narcisa
AU - Haverić, Sanin
AU - Kalamujić, Belma
AU - Kovačević, Lejla
AU - Ramić, Jasmin
AU - Pojskić, Naris
AU - Škaro, Vedrana
AU - Projić, Petar
AU - Bajrović, Kasim
AU - Hadžiselimović, Rifat
AU - Drobnić, Katja
AU - Huffine, Edwin
AU - Davoren, Jon
AU - Primorac, Dragan
PY - 2007/8
Y1 - 2007/8
N2 - Aim: To present the joint effort of three institutions in the identification of human remains from the World War II found in two mass graves in the area of Škofja Loka, Slovenia. Methods: The remains of 27 individuals were found in two small and closely located mass graves. The DNA was isolated from bone and teeth samples using either standard phenol/chloroform alcohol extraction or optimized Qiagen DNA extraction procedure. Some recovered samples required the employment of additional DNA purification methods, such as N-buthanol treatment. Quantifiler™ Human DNA Quantification Kit was used for DNA quantification. PowerPlex 16 kit was used to simultaneously amplify 15 short tandem repeat (STR) loci. Matching probabilities were estimated using the DNA View program. Results: Out of all processed samples, 15 remains were fully profiled at all 15 STR loci. The other 12 profiles were partial. The least successful profile included 13 loci. Also, 69 referent samples (buccal swabs) from potential living relatives were collected and profiled. Comparison of victims' profile against referent samples database resulted in 4 strong matches. In addition, 5 other profiles were matched to certain referent samples with lower probability. Conclusion: Our results show that more than 6 decades after the end of the World War II, DNA analysis may significantly contribute to the identification of the remains from that period. Additional analysis of Y-STRs and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) markers will be performed in the second phase of the identification project.
AB - Aim: To present the joint effort of three institutions in the identification of human remains from the World War II found in two mass graves in the area of Škofja Loka, Slovenia. Methods: The remains of 27 individuals were found in two small and closely located mass graves. The DNA was isolated from bone and teeth samples using either standard phenol/chloroform alcohol extraction or optimized Qiagen DNA extraction procedure. Some recovered samples required the employment of additional DNA purification methods, such as N-buthanol treatment. Quantifiler™ Human DNA Quantification Kit was used for DNA quantification. PowerPlex 16 kit was used to simultaneously amplify 15 short tandem repeat (STR) loci. Matching probabilities were estimated using the DNA View program. Results: Out of all processed samples, 15 remains were fully profiled at all 15 STR loci. The other 12 profiles were partial. The least successful profile included 13 loci. Also, 69 referent samples (buccal swabs) from potential living relatives were collected and profiled. Comparison of victims' profile against referent samples database resulted in 4 strong matches. In addition, 5 other profiles were matched to certain referent samples with lower probability. Conclusion: Our results show that more than 6 decades after the end of the World War II, DNA analysis may significantly contribute to the identification of the remains from that period. Additional analysis of Y-STRs and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) markers will be performed in the second phase of the identification project.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=34548258836&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=34548258836&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Article
C2 - 17696306
AN - SCOPUS:34548258836
SN - 0353-9504
VL - 48
SP - 513
EP - 519
JO - Croatian Medical Journal
JF - Croatian Medical Journal
IS - 4
ER -