Jacqueline S. Raskin, MS, John H. Ryan, Ph.D., James J. Canik, and Mitchell M. Holland, Ph.D.
DoD DNA Registry, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology and American Registry of Pathology,
Rockville, MD 20850-3125

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The repatriated skeletal remains of American service members lost in the Vietnam and Korean conflicts are often highly fragmented and co-mingled, making identification by anthropology or dentition difficult or impossible. Due to the age and poor condition of the samples, identification by conventional nuclear DNA testing is unsuccessful. Because it is maternally inherited, highly polymorphic within the control region and present in high copy number, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is an extremely powerful tool for DNA analysis of either badly degraded or aged samples.

The Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory has employed mtDNA sequencing on a large scale since March, 1994 for the identification of American service members lost in the Vietnam and Korean conflicts. Because mtDNA is maternally inherited, blood from a maternal relative of the missing service member has been required as the reference source. However, on occasion, no living maternal relatives of a missing service member are available. In an attempt to identify remains from these missing service members, techniques are being developed for using alternative sources of reference mtDNA. Among these are envelopes and stamps from letters addressed by the missing service members.

To design and validate a protocol for organic extractions of DNA from envelope seals and the back of stamps, experiments were performed on four stamps and three envelopes dated in 1971 (Vietnam era), five stamps and six envelopes dated between 1948-1950 (Korean era) six envelopes sealed in 1996, and four blank envelopes. For each of the samples used in this study, the mtDNA profile of the addresser was known. The isolated DNA was analyzed by polymerase chain reaction-based typing, specifically mtDNA sequencing. Results indicate that stamps and envelopes represent a potentially useful reference source when no other source is available. Considerations relating to contamination, replicate testing and exclusion criteria will be discussed.

The opinions and assertions expressed herein are solely those of the authors and are not to be construed as official or as the views of the United States Department of Defense or the United States Department of the Army.