This review presents the basic problems and currently available molecular techniques used for genetic profiling in disaster victim identification (DVI). The environmental conditions of a mass disaster often result in severe fragmentation, decomposition and intermixing of the remains of victims. In such cases, traditional identification based on the anthropological and physical characteristics of the victims is frequently inconclusive. This is the reason why DNA profiling became the gold standard for victim identification in mass-casualty incidents (MCIs) or any forensic cases where human remains are highly fragmented and/or degraded beyond recognition. The review provides general information about the sources of genetic material for DNA profiling, the genetic markers routinely used during genetic profiling (STR markers, mtDNA and single-nucleotide polymorphisms [SNP]) and the basic statistical approaches used in DNA-based disaster victim identification. Automated technological platforms that allow the simultaneous analysis of a multitude of genetic markers used in genetic identification (oligonucleotide microarray techniques and next-generation sequencing) are also presented. Forensic and population databases containing information on human variability, routinely used for statistical analyses, are discussed. The final part of this review is focused on recent developments, which offer particularly promising tools for forensic applications (mRNA analysis, transcriptome variation in individuals/populations and genetic profiling of specific cells separated from mixtures).

To shed more light on the processes leading to crystallization of a Slavic identity, we investigated variability of complete mitochondrial genomes belonging to haplogroups H5 and H6 (63 mtDNA genomes) from the populations of Eastern and Western Slavs, including new samples of Poles, Ukrainians and Czechs presented here. Molecular dating implies formation of H5 approximately 11.5–16 thousand years ago (kya) in the areas of southern Europe. Within ancient haplogroup H6, dated at around 15–28 kya, there is a subhaplogroup H6c, which probably survived the last glaciation in Europe and has undergone expansion only 3–4 kya, together with the ancestors of some European groups, including the Slavs, because H6c has been detected in Czechs, Poles and Slovaks. Detailed analysis of complete mtDNAs allowed us to identify a number of lineages that seem specific for Central and Eastern Europe (H5a1f, H5a2, H5a1r, H5a1s, H5b4, H5e1a, H5u1, some subbranches of H5a1a and H6a1a9). Some of them could possibly be traced back to at least ∼4 kya, which indicates that some of the ancestors of today's Slavs (Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Ukrainians and Russians) inhabited areas of Central and Eastern Europe much earlier than it was estimated on the basis of archaeological and historical data. We also sequenced entire mitochondrial genomes of several non-European lineages (A, C, D, G, L) found in contemporary populations of Poland and Ukraine. The analysis of these haplogroups confirms the presence of Siberian (C5c1, A8a1) and Ashkenazi-specific (L2a1l2a) mtDNA lineages in Slavic populations. Moreover, we were able to pinpoint some lineages which could possibly reflect the relatively recent contacts of Slavs with nomadic Altaic peoples (C4a1a, G2a, D5a2a1a1).

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