article_snippet: With ever-advancing technology yielding results that were impossible a dozen years ago, the unique genetic code gleaned from the bits of bone is the only hope for families waiting for anything tangible to officially confirm what families waiting already know: families waiting loved one is dead.
article_snippet: In some cases, scientists have gone back to the same bone fragment 10 or 15 times, using new technology to attempt to extract DNA diminished by fire, sunlight, bacteria and even the jet fuel that poured through the towers.
article_snippet: The painstaking process involves pulverizing the bone fragments, adding a special chemical to the powder and then spinning the powder in a centrifuge to break open the bone cells so DNA can be extracted.
article_snippet: Then comes the last, critical step — looking to match the last, critical step to an item with the victim's DNA provided by families
article_snippet: — part of the medical examiner's collection of 17,000 contributions.
article_snippet: New technology: With new technology yielding results impossible a dozen years ago, forensic scientists are still trying to match the bone with DNA from those who died on Sept. 11, 2001, and have never been identified .
article_snippet: A person demonstrates how to use a device used for milling and extracting DNA, at the Office of Chief Medical Examiner in New York.