Anya Smith said:
The Medical examiner should know from the cadaver the sex, race, and approximate age of the victim. To determine ethnicity or do even a partial genetic mapping would take much longer than 5-10 days.
It really depends on the particular DNA test, on the amount and quality of the DNA you have, and on what you're after. DNA tests can take a long time, but if you have quality DNA, and you do ordinary marker testing, the kind nearly always done, the process usually takes five to seven days from the moment the process starts.
The process can also be "pushed," if it's urgent enough, as it sometimes is in a serious criminal or medical case, and all the DNA results usually needed for forensic evidence or medical treatment can be obtained within seventy-two hours.
The lab our local police uses almost never takes longer than seven days to return results, though one case about a year back did take twice this long because the DNA wasn't of very high quality. I don't think a test has ever come back in three days, but I know results have been obtained in four days on several occasions.
Ethnicity can't actually be determined from DNA testing, no matter what tests you run. All that can be determined is
probable ethnicity, which is why on such shows as CSI, the report always comes back with the word "probable." These probabilities are often remarkably accurate, and far too often, completely wrong.
Nor can age be determined through DNA testing.
Gender can nearly always be determined, but rare circumstances can even throw this off.
Assuming teh DNA sample has not degraded to a high extent, or has not been contaminated, everything a criminal investigation needs or can use will be returned with the five to seven day test, and pretty much everything a medical case can use will also be returned with a five to seven day test.