Inside Military Forensic Medicine Institute to identify fallen soldiers' remains

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In the initial phase of the 500-day-and-night campaign to search for, collect, and identify the remains of fallen soldiers, the Military Institute of Forensic Medicine is assigned to receive samples from 17 provinces and cities. Many localities have so far completed sample collection. Since the launch of the campaign, the institute has received over 60,000 remains samples of fallen soldiers, of which approximately 20,000 have been placed in long-term storage.

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Upon receipt, samples are labeled with QR codes before being handed over to the preservation team. The officer in charge devises plans and assigns tasks to the designated working teams.

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QR codes play a vital role in identifying the remains of fallen soldiers through DNA testing, acting as a "passport" across every stage from sample receipt to final results. Each sample is assigned a unique QR code to eliminate the risk of mix-ups and cross-contamination, while facilitating data management, traceability, and identity verification.

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Inside the sample preservation room at the Military Institute of Forensic Medicine under the Military Medical Department (General Department of Logistics and Technical Services, Ministry of National Defense), Senior Professional Officer Major Nguyen Hieu Nghia, a staff member of the Autopsy Department, opens a box containing fallen soldiers' teeth wrapped carefully in paper.

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Each tooth and bone fragment is handled with utmost care and reverence by Nghia and his colleagues through every step. These are key specimens for DNA testing, carrying the hope of identifying fallen soldiers.

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During the cleaning stage, Major Nghia handles and places between 40 and 60 samples into drying cabinets daily, with each sample taking about 10 to 15 minutes. "The entire preservation section processes 600 to 700 samples a day," Nghia says

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Despite the massive volume of samples received and processed during the campaign, Nghia and his colleagues take immense pride in contributing to the mission of restoring identities to fallen soldiers and soon returning them to their families.

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Following the cleaning and drying process, the samples are evaluated for quality and assigned position codes before being transferred to the storage team for long-term preservation pending DNA testing.

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Storage Facility No. 4 (K4) at the Military Institute of Forensic Medicine has a maximum capacity of over 110,000 remains samples of fallen soldiers. The facility currently preserves around 20,000 samples.

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Working in a cold storage facility maintained at 15 degrees Celsius, staff members at the Military Institute of Forensic Medicine must constantly wear scarves to keep warm.

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Equipped with unique QR codes, the remains samples allow for seamless and efficient information retrieval.

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After removing impurities and drying, the remains samples are ground into powder and subjected to an extraction process.

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Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Thi Ngoc Anh, Head of the Biological Testing Department at the Military Institute of Forensic Medicine, says: "The amount of bone powder obtained depends on the condition and initial weight of the bone sample. For bone and tooth samples that have been buried underground for many years, the cleaning and surface impurity removal stage is exceptionally crucial. Consequently, the amount of bone powder recovered after processing can be significantly less than the initial sample weight."

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The bone powder is then sent to the technical section for DNA extraction. The resulting solution from the extraction has a very small volume, equivalent to about one to two drops of water. The DNA is further amplified using a PCR machine for subsequent analytical steps before the sample is transferred to the electrophoresis room.

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The laboratory system operates on a one-way workflow principle. Samples move sequentially through the processing, extraction, DNA amplification, and electrophoresis areas.

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The rooms are connected by pass boxes, with separate transit routes designated for samples and staff. Although every stage of the process is carried out with meticulous care, the quality of long-buried remains samples remains a major hurdle for identification work.

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The Military Institute of Forensic Medicine currently utilizes maternal lineage mitochondrial DNA analysis via the Sanger sequencing method to test fallen soldiers' remains samples. This method was adopted early on for long-buried remains and has proven highly effective in practice.

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Lieutenant Colonel and Dr. Nguyen Tat Tho, Deputy Director of the Military Institute of Forensic Medicine, states that moving forward, the Institute plans to apply next-generation sequencing technology combined with SNP markers to analyze short DNA fragments, thereby expanding kinship matching capabilities.

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During the 2021-2025 period, the Institute received nearly 15,000 samples, analyzed nearly 4,000 samples, and successfully matched and identified 558 fallen soldiers.

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In the upcoming phase, the Institute is projected to receive approximately 35,000 additional samples from localities that have yet to fulfil the task. Under the plan, by April 30, 2027, the total number of fallen soldiers' remains samples expected to be received by the unit will exceed 100,000.