Disaster victim identification: the co-utilisation of applied biosystems RapidHIT ID system and DJI Matrice 300 drone for onsite DNA analysis

Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) following mass fatality events is critical in bringing closure to the victims' family members and their loved ones. However, post-disaster environments are typically unfavourable and pose difficulties for the execution of DVI procedures. Delays in collecting, transporting, and processing the samples may cause DNA to degrade, adversely impacting the identification process. Therefore, this study aimed to demonstrate the co-utilisation of RapidHIT ID (RHID) and DJI Matrice 300 (M300) for onsite DNA analysis using buccal swab samples. 40 samples (two replicates) were collected from 20 "victims" and another 40 (two replicates) from 20 corresponding "relatives". The first replicates were processed using RHID (n = 40) and the second replicates were analysed via conventional technologies (n = 40). This paper observed the genotyping success rate, kinship matching, concordance, comparing different sample collectors, storage interval, and time taken for both procedures. Results of this study showed that RHID could generate DNA profiles for all the samples (n = 40) with 90% of them showing full profiles, and managed to process samples that have been stored for up to six months. The drone-assisted procedure exhibits less time to obtain and analyse the samples but can still produce DNA profiles concordant with the conventional method (p > 0.05). In conclusion, RHID is sufficient to generate interpretable DNA profiles in harsh environments, and transporting samples by M300 drone can reduce the exposure time to process more quality DNA for DVI.