A significant scientific breakthrough has just been achieved in efforts to uncover the identities of hundreds of thousands of missing war victims in Vietnam. Through a collaboration between the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) and the Institute of Biotechnology under the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST), Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) gene technology has been proven capable of extracting accurate nuclear DNA profiles from severely degraded skeletal remains.
Over the past five decades, the identification process in Vietnam has faced major obstacles due to the tropical climate, which accelerates DNA degradation in human remains. Furthermore, the scarcity of reference samples from close relatives has often rendered conventional forensic methods ineffective. The innovation of NGS technology serves as a solution, as it can analyze thousands of genetic markers simultaneously, enabling kinship identification even when only distant relatives are available.
This success began with a pilot project at the Tra Linh Cemetery in Cao Bang, where researchers successfully obtained genetic profiles from all analyzed skeletal samples. From these tests, the team achieved matches with exceptionally high statistical accuracy for families who have waited for decades for certainty regarding the fate of their loved ones.
ICMP Director-General Kathryne Bomberger emphasized that this innovation proves scientific challenges previously deemed impossible can now be overcome. Building on this initial success, ICMP is now preparing to expand the identification program to a much larger scale, including at the Giong Rieng Cemetery in An Giang, which holds nearly 1,000 unidentified graves.
As a strategic step, the research team is also developing automation software for DNA profile matching. Supported by a strong scientific foundation validated through international collaborative research, this technology is expected to act as a catalyst in completing the identification of hundreds of thousands of remains that still lie buried in uncertainty across Vietnam.
