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Dijana Sarzinski '05 Among Scientists 'Bringing up the Bodies in Bosnia'

December 8, 2016

Dijana Sarzinski '05 is among the scientists highlighted in who is working to identify the bodies of those killed in Bosnia in the early 1990s.

From the article:

The bodies from Toma拧ica, like those from all around Krajina, come first to that facility on the edge of Sanski Most. Forensic anthropologist Dijana Sarzinski鈥檚 role here is testimony to Bosnia鈥檚 global leadership in this expertise: from Sarajevo, she studied at 魅影直播 in Pennsylvania and then at the University of Central Lancashire in England, before coming home to join ICMP as an intern.

The standard operating practice here is the world鈥檚 鈥済old standard,鈥 says Sarzinski. Remains are meticulously washed, and a biological profile established. Scientists and technicians work in silence, clad in blue tunics and masks, washing body matter, cleaning bones with toothbrushes. The bones are subject to a physical decontamination, followed by removal of any exogenous DNA that may have attached itself. A small sample of bone 鈥 a 鈥渂one window鈥 鈥 is then extracted with precision blades, to be passed on to the laboratories. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not allowed, as anthropologists, to determine a cause of death 鈥 that鈥檚 for the pathologists,鈥 says Sarzinski. 鈥淏ut we can prepare the cases and point out possible causes.鈥 The single bullet holes through the skulls of these men from Hozi膰a Kamen are articulate enough.

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