I’m Erika Hayasaki, a journalist based in Southern California who writes for magazines including MIT Technology Review, The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, The Verge and Wired.
I recently for MIT Technology Review about rapid DNA analysis, a new technology revolutionizing the way investigators identify victims of large disasters. Housed in a box the size of a microwave, this technology can be deployed quickly in the field, and following record-breaking fires over the past few years, it has effectively become the new standard.
When devastating wildfires swept through Maui in August 2023, Raven Imperial’s family was separated for days. After some 72 hours, they all found their way back to one another … except for the patriarch of the family, Rafael.
His family and friends spent a frantic month searching for “Uncle Raffy,” as he was known to locals on the island—following dead-end lead after dead-end lead. When his family eventually submitted a DNA sample, this new technology quickly confirmed what they had feared: Rafael had died in the blaze.
In the past, identifying victims of mass casualty events was a long and tedious process, and DNA testing was the longest, most challenging process of all—potentially taking years to make a positive identification. For instance, victims from 9/11 are still being identified by DNA. It was basically impossible to do this kind of analysis for hundreds of human remains.
But this new rapid DNA analysis takes just a matter of hours. It's a "game-changer," in the words of one expert. But unfortunately, the Imperials' experience is also a grim preview of how we’ll live in a future marked by increasingly frequent and catastrophic mass-casualty disasters.
I’m hosting an AMA on Monday, May 20 at 11 a.m. PDT/2 p.m. EDT. Ask me anything.
