of Makin Atoll. Although the mission was successful, 18 Marines were killed and 12 were missing in action. Unable to bring the bodies back to the U.S., the leader of the raid paid an islander to bury the men. Families were never able to recover the bodies, for no one knew the exact location of the grave. In 1997, survivors of the raid urged CILHI to investigate, and in 1998 the lab surveyed the island and interviewed residents before deploying an excavation team in 1999.

Mark Leney is an ORISE research participant who helped CILHI identify the remains of soldiers lost at Makin Atoll. In addition to writing forensic anthropology reports and taking on the role as one of two CILHI DNA coordinators, Leney advised the scientific director on the results of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analyses. mtDNA—recoverable from bone and inherited from mothers—contain circular DNA molecules that are believed to be the genetic leftovers of free-living organisms.

 Although the skeletons recovered at Makin Atoll were well preserved, conventional-DNA type techniques were insufficient. “Currently, it is impossible to recover nuclear DNA from aged bone,” Leney said. “This was a good example of the limitations of the mtDNA technique and underlined the need to combine the DNA evidence with other more traditional lines of evidence before synthesizing a conclusion.”

 This and other experiences and lessons learned at CILHI have led Leney to say the ORISE participation program has provided him “an irreplaceable introduction to forensic science.”

 “The program allows us to get a close look at CILHI and for CILHI to get a chance to look at us,” he said. “The influx of bright young people from a variety of backgrounds into CILHI as a result of ORISE will be of major benefit to the scientific mission at CILHI, and it is also providing participants with a challenging experience that will help them to make an informed decision about their future careers.”