FBI will Use DNA Database to Identify Missing Persons

According to USA Today, the FBI plans to use its national DNA database system to help identify not only criminals, but also missing persons and tens of thousands of unidentified bodies held by local coroners and medical examiners.

A new computer program planned for this fall will compare DNA taken from unidentified bodies to DNA submitted by family members of missing persons. The plan takes advantage of the fact that biological relatives sometimes have similar, though not identical, DNA profiles. [Mark Godsey]