Ernesto Schwartz-Marin, University of Durham, UK

Posted: September 7, 2015

In August 2014, together with relatives of the disappeared in Mexico we constituted the first ever citizen-led organisation created with the task of governing and managing the emerging DNA and forensic database product of our joint efforts. This is what is known as Ciencia Forense Ciudadana (CfC).  CfC developed a questionnaire to create a user-friendly web based registry of disappeared persons. To date (August 2015), the registry has documented more than 708 cases of disappearance. The DNA bank is also underway operating in the middle of the zones of conflict all around the country (440 DNA collection kits have been sent all over Mexico). We have communicated our project to mass media worldwide (in 6 months we participated in more than 123 interviews), and nowadays the technologies  we created in our project are being fully transferred to the citizen co-creating and co-governing it.

AL Jazeera Coverage of the Project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qj2JS5kamQk&feature=youtu.be