After 17 years, the victim of the World Trade Center attack is identified by the DNA

NEW YORK – Mark Desire believes his team has been trying to identify the bone more than a dozen times over the past 17 years – since It was recovered from the wreckage of the World Trade Center in Manhattan. Each time, in vain. As part of New York City's efforts to identify victims of the September 11, 2011 terrorist attack, the Deputy Director of Forensic Biology at the Municipal Medical Expertise Bureau and his colleagues have been unable to extract enough DNA from the sample

But thanks to advances in DNA testing, the team was able to bring down this barrier, and the city announced Wednesday that The bone belongs to Scott Michael Johnson, who worked in the financial sector and died at the age of 26. . Now he becomes one of the 1,642 people identified among the 2,753 who were killed in the attack in New York. 1,111 are still waiting for identification.

Since the destruction of the World Trade Center, the medical expert has been working on the identification of about 22,000 human remains. Johnson, who worked on the 89th floor of the South Tower as an insurance analyst at Keefe, Bruyette and Woods, is the first victim to be identified since August 2017. The name of the last person to be identified was kept confidential at the request of

As a medical examiner, you learned to be neutral, Desire told the New York Times. "But the World Trade Center survey is another type of case." When you meet families, you get hugs and thanks, you get excited, and that really helps the process

For Ann and Tom Johnson, the phone call informing you of the identification of the remains of your son meant the control office "When I told our daughter, we sat down and started crying," Ann said. – You are brought back to that and that also means that there is an end. In one way or another, I always thought that he would go through the house and say, "Here I am, I had amnesia." [19659003] Barbara Sampson, Director of Medical Expertise, has been in the office for 20 years and took command in 2014 He stated that one of the most rewarding experiences of his career has been D & # 39; 39, inform parents of Patrice Braut, the only Belgian citizen to have lost his life in the attack against the World Trade Center, on the identification of the remains of his son

. "

Difficulty in extracting DNA from bones

However, the remains that still need to be identified are the biggest challenge.Most samples come from bone, which are among the Most difficult materials to extract DNA profiles, Desite explains.To further complicate the job is the fact that many victims' DNA has been destroyed or degraded by fire exposure, heat and aviation fuel.

Although the steps for DNA identification have remained largely unchanged Over the years, the techniques for extracting and extracting DNA have remained largely unchanged. Identification of the DNA samples have improved.At first, the bone must be sprayed for the extraction of a powder.Newly, Desire and his team have deployed a new method that allows to obtain a finer powder.Then, after the extraction of DNA, the expensive researchers are trying to produce copies of it by pulling a polymerase chain reaction using an enzyme. In the case of Scott Michael Johnson, the scientists performed the process three times before having enough DNA to create a profile.

As soon as the DNA profile is generated, the team compares it to the samples. The office has a database of over 17,000 samples of victims and relatives references. Johnson's DNA was compared to samples of his toothbrush and then confirmed with DNA samples from his parents.

According to Desire, DNA testing techniques improve in response to the difficulties of identifying victims of the 9/11 attack