AFDIL Scientists Assist in the Identification of Vasa Remains

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Video by Staff Sgt. Alexandra Minor

Armed Forces Medical Examiner System

Nov. 28, 2024 | 6:24

Jennifer Higginbotham, Research Associate and Dr. Kimberly Andreaggi, Chief of Emerging Technology with the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) at the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System test remains from the Swedish warship Vasa in collaboration with the Uppsala University and Vasa Museum at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, November 28, 2024. The Vasa ship sank in Stockholm Harbor on August 10, 1628, and was salvaged from the bottom of the harbor in 1961. The AFDIL scientists processed more than 30 samples using advanced methods that helped predict the phenotype of 15 individuals. The Vasa skeletal remains provided an opportunity for AFDIL to test extraction and analysis methods on samples that had been submerged in water for a long period of time and evaluate new analytical methods that contribute to the improvement of human identification methods used in future crime scene investigations and missing persons cases.