DNA helps identify 100 year old military remains
02 Mar 2017
Earlier this week, LGC’s Commercial DNA Services Manager, Vic Moore, had some of her innovative DNA work
highlighted on the BBC.
Vic featured in a story on Inside Out, a prime-time current affairs show,
investigating “whether a military badge found in a French field could help trace a fallen soldier's family”.
This particular discovery is part of Vic’s ongoing project working in partnership to help the Ministry of Defence identify remains from historical battlefields and major conflicts mainly from “The Great War” of 1914-1918, and World War II.
Vic says, “I feel immensely privileged to have assisted in the identification of our fallen soldiers. LGC has been working in close partnership with the MoD Casualty Centre helping in the identification process of soldiers killed from
numerous historical battlefields. We have a great team of experienced scientists using
modern day forensic methods and applications to examine, analyse and profile DNA samples from the remains and compare to potential familial living family members and descendants. This is all done with great care and compassion by all parties involved. In fact, the BBC presenter Phil Connell told me that working on this programme was one of his most memorable projects, in more than thirty years of TV work”.
Vic and her team have recently been working on remains relating to World War II battle sites in different locations across Europe where commemorations for some identified soldiers will be taking place later this month.
For more on this and other upcoming dedications being carried out by the CWGC please click here.