Abu Dhabi Police forensic department profiles old bone powder samples

Abu Dhabi: The Forensic Evidence Department at Abu Dhabi Police announced that it has succeeded in achieving a complete DNA profile match of two bone powder samples. One of the samples is approximately 400 years old while the second dates back to around 150 years.

The Abu Dhabi department’s laboratory was one of 13, out of a total of 18 asked to take part in the case study, to identify the first sample and one of three to achieve a 100 per cent match of the DNA profile of the second sample.

Brig Abdul Rahman Al Hammadi, Head of the Forensic Evidence Department, said that both samples were collected from archaeological excavations and provided by the National Museum and Institute of Archaeology in Prague.

Tests were conducted at the Faculty of Medicine in Charles University, in collaboration with the Forensic DNA Service (FDNAS) institute and other international forensic research institutes in Prague, Czech Republic.

Lieutenant Ahmad Anwar Al Afifi, forensic evidence technician, said that the case study was designed to test the efficiency of old bone sample analysis at various forensic laboratories worldwide. The laboratories were asked to conduct DNA profiling from two different bone powder samples, dating back 150 years and 400 years respectively.

Lt Al Affifi also noted that all participating laboratories achieved 100 per cent match of the DNA profile on the first sample; however, identifying the DNA profile of the second sample that dates back 400 years represented a considerable challenge.

Elaborating on the case, Lt Al Affifi indicated that according to the test results, 13 laboratories had identified the complete DNA profile of the first sample, and was a match to the DNA typing stored in their database. Three laboratories, including the Forensic Biology Laboratory of the Forensic Evidence Department at Abu Dhabi Police, were able to achieve 100 per cent match of the DNA profile of both samples. This proves the high-end quality of performance of the laboratory in conducting such tests, and positions the lab among the world’s most advanced laboratories, as one of three laboratories that achieved 100 per cent match DNA profile on the second sample.