LGC Forensics has been using specifically modified extraction procedures and DNA analysis to identify soldiers who lost their lives at the Battle of Fromelles in northern France on 19 July 1916.
The company has been working closely with the Australian and British governments, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and the Ministry of Defence to achieve this.
Archaeologists began recovering the remains of the 250 soldiers in May 2009.
LGC Forensics obtained DNA information from the Y chromosome (for paternal inheritance) and mitochondrial DNA (for maternal inheritance) from these remains.
The company also received samples from more than 1,000 potential relatives from across the world and matched DNA from these donors with samples extracted from soldiers' remains.
LGC Forensics was contracted by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and has been responsible for leading all the DNA analysis on the samples taken from the site in Fromelles.
To date, 96 individuals have been positively identified using the specifically modified extraction procedures and DNA analysis in conjunction with artefacts and anthropological and historical data.
LGC provides a range of forensic services to address the simplest to the most complex of cases.
The company provides casework and analytical services in DNA techniques, controlled drugs, toxicology, ecology, questioned documents, digital crime, firearms and ballistics and forensic pathology in support of modern policing.
