In view of current global challenges in human trafficking, political migration, war, organized crime, and environment, the identification of unknown people and their origins is increasingly important. Provenance is the critical first step in identification, however, the current identification methods of INTERPOL (fingerprints, dental records, and DNA profiling) are inadequate in cases where no reference samples or family members exist. In this project, I will design and produce a completely new method that provides additional resolution for the current human DNA identification methodologies via virus fingerprint, a unique viral genome collection residing in our organs. The research will be performed at the Department of Forensic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Finland.

2024

2028