Freezer Mill News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Another device here works even better. >> it's called a freezer mill. >> reporter: the freezer mill. liquid nitrogen is poured into the mill. a bone fragment encased in a tube dipped inside for deep freezing. >> i'm sure kids have seen different things put into liquid nitrogen. and it freezes instantly. >> reporter: the sample, brittle enough to blend into a fine powder. the machine uses d s chemicals break down the powder even more. usually this part of the process happens overnight, correct? for the sake of television, we'll move on. dr. li extracts a small amount of the mixture. then on to ...

Obviously entertainment. >> reporter: this doctor is also a professor of forensic science, and dr. richard lee, associate professor, both a at john j. college of criminal justice in new york city. they don't need months to do their job. >> i would say about the size of an inch, inch and a half. >> reporter: all that's needed for them to extract dna, enough to possibly identify a victim. >> we certainly can extract dna from a bone like this. >> reporter: they took us through the process. clean bones brought to their lab will be made into a powder. >> so we start with this device right here? >> ...

Another device looks better. >> it's called the freezer mill. >> reporter: liquid nitrogen is poured into the mill, a bone fragment inside for deep freezing. >> i'm sure kids have seen different things put into liquid nitrogen. it freezes instantly. >> reporter: the sample brittle enough to blend into a fine powder. they use chemicals to break down the powder even more. most of this happens overnight. for the sake of television, we'll move on. dr. li extracts a small amount of the mixture, then on to a lab where the dna is refined. do you in some ways feel that you're detectives, too, because ...