MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said Thursday it is asking family members of missing persons to provide DNA samples as part of an effort to identify at least 100 sets of human remains, with the goal of bringing missing loved ones back home.

The BCA said many of the unidentified remains were discovered decades ago, before DNA testing was in the picture. More sensitive technology available today allows scientists to extract DNA from these older remains, or remains that are in poor condition.

The samples will be entered into an FBI DNA index, where they can be compared with family member samples from across the country. But Catherine Knutson, the laboratory director for BCA’s Forensic Science Services, said the effort won’t work unless family members give samples.

“We need families to come forward — no matter how long ago their loved one went missing,” Knutson said.

The remains being tested as part of this 18-month project were found in Minnesota from the 1970s to the 1990s.