I have it on good authority that the DNA test was actually confirmed by a physical ID by former President GWB. Mr Bush was flown in to view the body and upon first seeing it was overhead saying, “Yeah, that’s got to be him. See? He has a beard!”
Yeah, but you can get good samples from any amount of DNA-bearing cells at all. When I did it, we just lightly rubbed the inside of our cheeks with a toothpick. Even if they wanted something a little more concentrated than blood, they could have used anything. Why BRAAAIIIIINNNNSSS?
From Boing Boing today: How long does it take to “fingerprint” someone’s DNA?
Because it was what they had. Any soft tissue from Bin Laden’s sister would have worked as a DNA source; for whatever reason, brain tissue was what was saved after her death. So brain tissue was what they used. There was nothing particularly special about the brain tissue.