The Hague, 10 March 2026 – Experts from the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP), working in collaboration with the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST), have published new findings on advances in DNA-based human identification in the prestigious journal Forensic Science International: Genetics.
The April issue features an article examining DNA preservation in highly degraded skeletal remains dating from the Vietnam War. The study describes a technique developed at ICMP’s laboratories in The Hague, combined with formal training, implementation, and concordance testing conducted in Hanoi at the Center for DNA Identification (CDI) laboratory of Vietnam.
Using the innovative method, researchers successfully recovered human autosomal DNA from 70 percent of the bone samples tested. The breakthrough offers a promising new pathway for resolving decades-old cases involving unidentified human remains in Vietnam.
A second article, now available online and scheduled for publication in the June issue of Forensic Science International: Genetics, presents a comparative evaluation of SNP sequencing workflows. The research, conducted jointly by ICMP and Vietnamese scientists, demonstrates that targeted sequencing of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), combined with optimized and highly sensitive DNA library preparation techniques, provides a viable approach for large-scale human identification in Vietnam.
In December 2025, a ceremony was held in Hanoi to mark the first identification of missing Vietnamese soldiers made possible through the new DNA identification process. The technology, specifically tailored to conditions in Vietnam—where unidentified remains from the conflict have been buried for decades—allows kinship analysis up to the fourth or fifth degree, even in samples with poor-quality DNA.
Since 2020, ICMP has supported Vietnam in developing an effective, DNA-led missing persons identification system. Over the past two years, technical and software development, the provision of equipment, specialized training, and extensive testing have been carried out through a partnership between VAST and ICMP, with support from the United States Government.
The newly established system is expected to enable thousands of additional identifications in the coming years. Cooperation between ICMP scientists and their Vietnamese counterparts also contributes to the Vietnamese Government’s long-standing objective of identifying more than 300,000 sets of human remains from past conflicts.
