Improve Testing For Remains Of WTC Victims

By GINGER ADAMS OTIS

Family and friends of Sept. 11 victims who were never identified by Medical Examiners have new hope in their quest to find loved ones' remains.

A second round of testing on human bone fragments found at Ground Zero yielded more complete DNA, scientists announced Jan. 11.

To Do More Testing

Ed Huffine, one of the lead scientists in the project and vice president of Bode Technology Group in Virginia, said extensive tests would be necessary to obtain better genetic material.

"We have to find which methods work best for the bones. We've only tried one method so far," Mr. Huffine told the Associated Press last week.

The new testing method takes about five days to fully implement, but can extract much more DNA than the old process from the Ground Zero shards.

Mr. Huffine told AP the samples were working "beautifully with the new method."

The city has recently stepped up its search for remains in Lower Manhattan, after sharp criticism from 9/11 family members who felt initial recovery efforts were shoddy. Family members recently called for Federal oversight of the city's work, because they believe the push to build the Freedom Tower and other new development conflicts with the type of methodical and time-consuming search for remains they feel is necessary.

In October, while building a haul road for construction trucks going into the former World Trade Center site, search crews found more than 200 bones and fragments scattered in manholes and dirt. More than 700 shards have surfaced in the last year.

According to the city Medical Examiner's Office, 39 more bone fragments were found Jan. 11.