DNA

ICMP’s DNA Laboratories, located at its headquarters in The Hague, specialize in DNA testing of heavily degraded skeletal remains using the latest techniques.

As one of the world-leaders in DNA profiling and sequencing of bone samples, ICMP’s DNA Laboratories maintain a standing capacity for both postmortem and reference samples for governments and partners to call upon – often at short notice in response to conflicts or natural disasters.

The Team of 20 also work closely with other laboratories and academic institutions around the world in support of the continuous developments of techniques and subject matter expertise, leading to improved, quality assured and sustainable DNA testing provision.

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Quality Management System

ICMP’s DNA Laboratories are accredited by the Dutch Accreditation Council (Raad voor Accreditatie – RvA) to the international standard EN ISO/IEC 17025:2017 for DNA testing in missing persons investigations.

Please visit RvA’s website, or click here, for further information of ICMP’s accreditation (Registration Reference L641).

ICMP’s quality culture and commitment to continuous self-monitoring and improvement are not only fundamental to its own accredited Quality Management System, but are the foundation of ICMP’s training, technical support and scientific guidance to other DNA testing laboratories around the world.

ICMP’s DNA Laboratories have processed more than 77,000 postmortem samples,
resulting in over 43,000 DNA matches.

Because of its specialized expertise and ability to test large numbers of difficult samples from human remains, ICMP’s DNA laboratories and systems offer a globally accessible resource for DNA-led identification of the missing, supporting identification projects in:

Bosnia and Herzegovina
Croatia
Serbia
Kosovo
Macedonia
Armenia
Mexico
Brazil
Chile
Cyprus

Iraq
Libya
Lebanon
the United States
Canada
Norway
Cameroon
Greece
South Africa
Ukraine

The Science

ICMP uses a number of different DNA profiling, and more recently sequencing, techniques to recover and analyze DNA from the exhibits it receives. This includes the most commonly applied method of DNA profiling that makes use of highly variable regions of repetitive DNA called short tandem repeats, or STRs, found throughout human DNA. These differ in length between individuals and can be used as genetic markers to generate a DNA profile.

The analysis of single nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs, involves the detection of tiny variations in DNA. Because SNPS are smaller and more abundant in each cell than STRs, SNP analysis can be useful when DNA is highly degraded due to its age or contamination. ICMP continues to develop its next generation sequencing capabilities, where sensitive tests can simultaneously examine thousands of these genetic markers.