Amid air and ground attacks, spy planes and military personnel have been scouring the rugged landscape of Afghanistan for signs of Osama bin Laden.
As the carnage increases and human remains require identification, scientists clad in white lab coats and armed with pipettes are working alongside camouflaged gun-toting soldiers in the search for bin Laden.
U.S. officials are hoping that modern forensic science can identify bin Laden's remains in the event that he is killed.
A Predator drone missile attack in February killed several men in Afghanistan, raising U.S. suspicions that bin Laden might be dead.
Local Afghans claimed the strike killed innocent men scavenging for scrap metal, but the U.S. military feels otherwise.
Additional human remains, resulting from other U.S. air strikes, also have yet to be identified.
The United States is seeking DNA samples from the bin Laden family as a means of identifying the al-Qaeda leader.
Plenty of potential DNA samples are available, since bin Laden's deceased father conceived a total of 54 children by various wives.
DNA, the molecular blueprint for all organisms, routinely is analyzed in forensic science and can be derived from sources such as blood, saliva, bones or teeth.
All individuals except for identical twins have their own unique genetic sequence. DNA fingerprinting takes advantage of the small variations in human DNA.
Forensic scientists analyze sections of non-coding or "junk" DNA, which are pieces of genetic material with no known function.
"We're not looking at areas of DNA that say a person will have blue eyes," said Lisa Schiermeier, forensic scientist supervisor at Virginia's Division of Forensic Science.
"There is significant variation in non-coding regions of DNA, yielding more information," she added.
According to Schiermeier, the greater deviation found in non-coding DNA can be likened to the description of a vehicle in a hit and run traffic accident.
Simply knowing the car is a Toyota is not as useful in identifying the vehicle as knowing it is a blue, two-door, 1993 Toyota with a dent in the rear quarter panel, Schiermeier said.
Similarly, the more highly variable non-coding regions of DNA yield more information and allow a more efficient analysis.
Before analysis, the DNA samples must be amplified by polymerase chain reaction. This ensures there is a sufficient quantity of DNA for testing.
"Essentially, the process takes a small amount of genetic material and makes billions of copies," Schiermeier said.
Another method of testing DNA samples is called restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis.
A polymorphism is a variation in DNA sequences between individuals in a population.
A RFLP is an inherited difference in the size of DNA fragments produced when the DNA is cut with a specific enzyme.
After being cut into pieces, the DNA fragments are then separated and analyzed according to their length. Members of the same family will display similar DNA sized fragments because they share genetic material.
Thus, comparing the DNA profiles of two blood relatives is extremely useful in identifying human remains.
Laboratories used this technique to identify the remains of Sept. 11 victims.
DNA analysis also was used in Bosnia-Herzegovina, where scientists compared DNA from surviving family members with the remains of an estimated 30,000 Bosnian Muslims who had been killed by Serbian troops.
If U.S. authorities successfully obtain DNA samples from the bin Laden family, DNA analysis of human remains recovered in Afghanistan will be a vital means to discovering whether Osama bin Laden is dead or alive.
- Compiled by Andy Kinley
(Submit health and science questions to cavdaily@cavalierdaily.com)
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