Associate Adjunct Professor Glendon Parker has obtained an award from the National Institute of Justice to discover more genetic markers in skeletal proteins that can be used on preserve skeletons of missing persons. Over four thousand skeletons are found each year in the United States and can be a particular challenge for investigators. Likewise, many remains from foreign conflicts have been ‘preserved’ in ways that diminish the information that can be used to bring them back to their families and to resolve individuals from co-mingled bones. This research will provide new tools for investigators to gain information from bones even when DNA is no longer present in these remains. The research at UC Davis is part of an international collaboration with the University of Central Lancaster and the Sam Houston State University in Texas.
