NEW YORK, Dec. 14 (GenomeWeb News) - ReliaGene Technologies and the Louisiana State Police Crime Laboratory will collaborate on DNA identification of Hurricane Katrina victims, the company said today.
The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals contracted with the New Orleans-based human identification testing and research laboratory for several phases of the identification project. This contract is an extension of the emergency contract that was awarded to ReliaGene in October.
In the first phase, ReliaGene will collect DNA reference samples from family members, the company said. ReliaGene will also perform DNA analysis on all samples to compare the DNA profiles of the deceased, and reference samples will provide a positive identification of remains.
ReliaGene will share the work for the second phase with Orchid Cellmark and Bode Technologies.