M-FIsys
Definition
Kinship-matching software developed by the Netherlands Forensic Institute and first deployed at scale in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami Thailand DVI operation.
- Developer
- Netherlands Forensic Institute
- First major deployment
- 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, Thailand DVI
- Function
- Kinship-matching for victim identification
- Domain
- Disaster victim identification
Common questions
What problem does kinship-matching software solve in a DVI operation?+
When direct antemortem records such as dental charts or fingerprints are unavailable, DNA from surviving relatives can be statistically matched against DNA from unidentified remains. Software like M-FISys automates comparing many family reference samples against many victim profiles at once.
Why was the 2004 tsunami response a significant test case?+
The Thailand DVI operation involved a very large number of victims from many nationalities with often incomplete antemortem records, so it demonstrated the software's ability to manage large-scale, multi-family kinship comparisons under difficult field conditions.
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...
- Kinship Match
- A DVI DNA comparison between a post-mortem profile and reference profiles from one or more biological relatives, using a pedigree-based likelihood ratio...
- 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.