[amalia (OP)]

Judi got in contact with us with an interesting question:
News is saying that the death of al-Baghdadi was confirmed by DNA.  How can they confirm the DNA of a person so quickly? Does the military have a special process?
Do you know the answer?

[syhprum]

The military can say anything they like and it cannot be questioned as it is a matter of "national security"

[evan_au]

According to the news, the Kurds stole his underpants and the USA checked the DNA before they dispatched the hit squad.

That sounds about as credible as the other story...

[evan_au]

If some of your laundry goes missing, be careful...
You might be next!

[Bored chemist]

Hence the phrase "go commando".

[dizka]

Why is DNA testing so expensive?

[evan_au]

Why is DNA testing so expensive?

It was, the first time.
- Human DNA has about 3 billion base pairs
- The Human Genome Project cost about $US 3 Billion, and took 13 years
- After about 7 years, they had completed about 1% of the task, and politicians were labelling it a total cost blowout and a waste of money
- However, during this time they were creating a high-level map (that the details could slot into, later), and developing techniques that accelerated the process
- They finished the other 99% of the job in 6 years
See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Genome_Project

Developments in DNA sequencing machines have continued at a rapid pace, with the price dropping by a factor of around 100 million since 1990. It has now almost reached $100 to have a full DNA sequence.
See graph at: http://www.synthesis.cc/synthesis/category/Carlson+Curves

What has not come down nearly as much is the cost of interpreting the DNA data.
- We now understand the function of most protein-coding genes (but not all).
          - But the majority of the genome does not code for proteins, and the roles of this DNA is not understood so well.
- We now understand the health impact of many protein variants that are common in the population
          - But most of us have rare gene variants that are not known any better than you would find from taking a family history
          - Various countries (including the UK) now have programs to research rare genetic variants
          - This is especially relevant where babies have a problem that can't be explained any other way
         - In this case, it uses "Triple Sequencing": by sequencing the mother, father and baby, any "new" mutations are easier to spot, but it takes 3x as much DNA sequencing
- Even people who have a gene variant that makes them susceptible to a condition don't always develop that condition
      - The reasons for this are poorly understood
      - Some of it will relate to different environment
      - Some of it will relate to regulatory regions that are not currently understood

I heard someone say that their organisation could sequence your DNA for well under $1000, but it would take a lot of effort from multiple experts to interpret it, costing over $50,000!
- And even then they may not be able to identify anything significant...
- But with projects underway to sequence the genome of a million people, a better body of knowledge will develop over time...

[alancalverd]

News is saying that the death of al-Baghdadi was confirmed by DNA.

DNA = did not attend. He failed to show up for a meeting and didn't phone in. Add the noise of gunshots and the fact that two of his "wives" survived the US raid, and you have fairly convincing evidence.

The special forces spent two hours in the area and gathered "highly sensitive material".

may include the alleged underpants.

Plus the old military saying "Smith & Wesson beats four aces". If the army say Joe Bloggs shat his pants then blew himself to pieces, who is going to argue?