To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 28 January 2020 to Question 6631, for what reasons his Department does not extract DNA from the remains of unidentified British soldiers found on former battlefields.
Answered on
4 February 2020
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) does extract DNA from the remains of some unidentified British soldiers found on former battlefields. Due to the cost of DNA extraction and processing, MOD only recover DNA from historic casualties where it has been possible to draw up a list of potential candidates from other evidence, such as artefacts found with the remains, and analysis of casualty and unit records. The list of potential candidates makes it feasible to carry out the subsequent genealogical research to identify possible next of kin. Only where that subsequent research reveals a potential donor with whom to compare the recovered sample, is DNA used as part of the identity confirmation process.