Kinship Match
Definition
A DVI DNA comparison between a post-mortem profile and reference profiles from one or more biological relatives, using a pedigree-based likelihood ratio framework.
- Context
- Disaster victim identification (DVI)
- Compares
- Post-mortem DNA profile to relative reference profiles
- Statistical framework
- Pedigree-based likelihood ratio
- Use case
- Identification when direct ante-mortem samples are unavailable
Common questions
When is a kinship match used instead of a direct ante-mortem DNA comparison?+
It is used when no reliable ante-mortem sample from the victim exists, such as a toothbrush or medical specimen, so identification instead relies on DNA from surviving relatives combined with a pedigree model that calculates how likely the observed sharing pattern is under kinship versus chance.
Why does the strength of a kinship match depend on which relatives provide samples?+
Closer relatives such as parents or full siblings share more of the genome with the victim and produce a stronger likelihood ratio, while distant relatives contribute weaker statistical support, so DVI teams try to collect samples from the closest available family members first.
Related terms
- Bonaparte
- NFI kinship-matching software used in the MH17 DVI operation and subsequent Dutch-led mass-casualty responses; handles pedigrees across multiple national reference-sample databases.
- Direct Reference Match
- A DVI DNA comparison between a post-mortem profile and a reference profile derived from a personal effect (toothbrush, razor, stored sample) known...
- DVI (Disaster Victim Identification)
- The systematic multi-agency process for identifying victims of mass-casualty events, governed by the INTERPOL DVI Guide 2018 revision. Organises work into five...
- M-FIsys
- Kinship-matching software developed by the Netherlands Forensic Institute and first deployed at scale in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami Thailand DVI operation.
- NYC OCME
- New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner; led the 9/11 WTC DNA identification operation and developed the mini-STR and high-throughput mtDNA...
- Pink Form
- The INTERPOL DVI post-mortem recording form, used to document all biometric data collected from human remains (fingerprints, dental charts, DNA, physical descriptors,...
- Yellow Form
- The INTERPOL DVI ante-mortem recording form, completed by family liaison officers using information and reference samples provided by relatives of the missing.