Can DNA analysis be done on cremated remains?
A. The question of DNA identification of cremains or partially incinerated remains comes up surprisingly often for those who perform DNA typing on skeletal remains. It is very difficult to completely incinerate human remains. Commercial crematoriums typically expose bodies to 2,000°C for two hours. Under these conditions, the ashes will not yield DNA. Most remains recovered from building fires, however, are not totally incinerated and will contain DNA. DNA within bone is very stable and can withstand temperatures of several hundred degrees or more for short time periods. DNA cannot be recovered, however, when a bone becomes calcined. Calcined bone, often described as porcelain-like, has been reduced to its white or blue mineral constituents, indicating all organic material has been destroyed. Scorched and blackened bones may or may not yield DNA and generally should be tested. Many DNA analysts have been surprised to find a typable result when it appeared that the bone was not worth te
