Author/Editor		Zupanič-Pajnič, Irena
Title		Genetic analysis of skeletal remains of war victims
Type		članek
Vol. and No.		Letnik 28, št. 1
Publication year		2020
Volume		str. 40-49
ISSN		1221-8618 - Revista de medicinæa legalæa : Romanian Journal of Legal Medicine
Language		eng
Abstract		This article presents the genetic analysis of Second World War skeletal remains excavated from the Slovenian mass grave, where 43 prisoners were executed in 1943 according to the archived victims list. In 2013, two graves were found and at least 16 incomplete skeletons were exhumed. Thirty-nine bones were included in the genetic analyses. Family reference samples were collected for 10 victims from the list. Extracted DNA was quantified using the PowerQuant kit, and autosomal and Y-STR kits were used for STR typing. Up to 7 ng DNA/g of powder was acquired from the samples analyzed. We managed to obtain 15 unique genetic profiles, corresponding to 15 different individuals. Four genetic profile matches were ascertained, among which two cases were a match between a victim and a family reference (a son and daughter, respectively), and two cases a match between two respective victims, the latter highlighting the fact that some of the victims were related. On the archived victims list there were four pairs of brothers, and two pairs were proved through genetic analysis. The statistical analyses showed a high confidence of correct identification of two victims through family references, and among victims two pairs of brothers with posterior probability greater than 99.9%.
Keywords		skeletal remains war victims identification ostanki okostja vojne žrtve identifikacija