Forensic Science International-Genetics最新文献

{"title":"Concurrent genotyping of mitochondrial DNA and nuclear DNA in rootless hair shafts and blood samples for enhanced analysis","authors":"Dan Peng ,&nbsp;Nana Wang ,&nbsp;Yu Zang ,&nbsp;Zhiyong Liu ,&nbsp;Zhentang Liu ,&nbsp;Jiaojiao Geng ,&nbsp;Bin Cong ,&nbsp;Hongyu Sun ,&nbsp;Riga Wu","doi":"10.1016/j.fsigen.2024.103176","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fsigen.2024.103176","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Hair is an important type of biological evidence at crime scenes. However, the highly degraded nature of DNA fragments in hair shafts poses challenges for the detection of nuclear DNA (nuDNA) through capillary electrophoresis-based short tandem repeat (STR) genotyping. In this study, an all-in-one multiplex system named MGIEasy Signature Identification Library Prep Kit (MGI Tech, China) was employed to the simultaneous genotyping of both mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and nuDNA in hair shafts. This system is based on massively parallel sequencing (MPS) technology and encompasses Amelogenin, STRs, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and mtDNA hypervariable regions (HVRs) in a single reaction. A total of 370 hair shafts, together with 180 blood samples as the references, were examined. The mtDNA analysis of 110 unrelated blood samples unveiled a total of 150 homoplasmic variants and 105 distinct haplotypes, revealing population polymorphisms in the Guangdong Han Chinese. The study also delved into the detection of mtDNA heteroplasmy, revealing 8.18 % and 16.36 % of individuals with point heteroplasmies (PHPs) in blood and hair shaft samples, respectively. Additionally, hair shafts with DNA extracted using the Investigator method yielded higher average depth of coverage (DoC), lower drop-out rate for SNP genotyping, higher nuDNA genotyped rates and success rates, than those using the MinElute method. In the longitudinal research, a gradual decrease in the total DoC of mtDNA fragments was observed along the length of the hair shaft, from the proximal root to the distal end. In contrast, the DoC of nuDNA exhibited a relatively stable pattern along the length of the hair shafts. The study contributes valuable insights into the simultaneous detection of nuDNA and mtDNA in hair shafts, emphasizing the need for optimized DNA extraction and detection methods for these highly degraded samples.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50435,"journal":{"name":"Forensic Science International-Genetics","volume":"75 ","pages":"Article 103176"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2024-11-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142683245","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Improving the forensic genetic workflow for countries with small geographical areas: What are the options and how cost effective are they?","authors":"Anabella De La Chica ,&nbsp;Jason Birkett ,&nbsp;Cynthia Akwei ,&nbsp;David Lamont ,&nbsp;Nick Dawnay","doi":"10.1016/j.fsigen.2024.103171","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fsigen.2024.103171","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Forensic services worldwide often encounter considerable challenges relating to funding and infrastructure. Smaller jurisdictions or areas where forensic resources are scarce are faced with complicated choices in how they approach criminal casework, with a number of options available. Often these involve trade-offs between cost, time and data quality. Faced with such decisions it becomes important for the field to acknowledge the realities facing such jurisdictions, discuss the pros and cons of each approach, and identify a framework for making such decisions. This novel paper, reviews the available literature and identifies three main solutions for consideration: 1) the use of satellite laboratories for sample triage, 2) the use of a main regional laboratory for full forensic analysis and 3) the use of rapid DNA by police for reducing backlogs. Alongside these strategies, the impacts of cost and quality in regard to each of the stated options are considered. While the literature supports the assertion that some methods can reduce downstream costs via the reduction in turnaround times, there is limited data highlighting the business case used to support decision making when considering these options including the use of cost:benefit analyses or case studies, emphasizing the novelty of this paper. This is likely due to the commercialized nature of the forensic sector preventing the publication of a private laboratory’s business approach. The lack of emphasis on the ‘business case’ in forensic literature has the potential to mislead R&amp;D scientists who may consequently fail to consider such factors when performing their own research.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50435,"journal":{"name":"Forensic Science International-Genetics","volume":"74 ","pages":"Article 103171"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2024-11-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142651500","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Salivary microbiome signatures of Poles and Serbians and its potential for prediction of biogeographic ancestry","authors":"Katarzyna Skonieczna ,&nbsp;Natasa Kovacevic-Grujicic ,&nbsp;Aashish Srivastava ,&nbsp;Mariusz Gawrych ,&nbsp;Marzanna Ciesielka ,&nbsp;Nisha Rana ,&nbsp;Danijela Drakulic ,&nbsp;Marija Mojsin ,&nbsp;Milena Milivojevic ,&nbsp;Milena Stevanovic ,&nbsp;Grzegorz Teresiński ,&nbsp;Tomasz Grzybowski","doi":"10.1016/j.fsigen.2024.103173","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fsigen.2024.103173","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Biogeographical ancestry analysis is valuable in forensic investigations, especially in missing person cases or crimes without eyewitnesses, as it helps to infer geographic origins from genetic markers. This approach enhances forensic efforts by providing essential clues for identifying individuals with limited direct evidence. Slavic-speaking populations are poorly distinguishable based on human genome variability. However, recent studies show that even populations with close biogeographic origin could be differentiated based on salivary microbiomes. Nevertheless, the salivary microbiomes of Slavs have not been characterized yet. Therefore, this study aimed to compare the composition of the salivary microbiomes of Western and Southern Slavs’ representatives. 16S rRNA libraries from salivary microbiomes of 40 Poles (Western Slavs) and 40 Serbians (Southern Slavs) were prepared <em>via</em> PCR and sequenced on the MiSeq FGx platform (Illumina), giving approximately 100,000 reads per sample. Bioinformatic and statistical analyses were performed to assess the alpha and beta diversity of microbiomes and determine the differences in the abundance of bacterial genera between the groups studied. Analyses of alpha (ACE, Chao1, Shannon, and Simpson) and beta (Jaccard and Bray-Curtis dissimilarity) diversities in the salivary microbiomes clearly distinguished between Poles and Serbians. Alpha and beta diversity metrics were significantly higher in the Serbian population. <em>Fusobacterium, Lautropia, Porphyromonas, Actinobacillus, Capnocytophaga</em>, and <em>Kingella</em> were the most significantly increased genera in Serbians, whereas <em>Veillonella, Selenomonas, Megasphaera,</em> and <em>Atopobium</em> were more prevalent in Poles. In summary, our study identified significant differences in the salivary microbiomes of Poles and Serbians, with distinct microbial signatures associated with each population. These findings highlight the potential of salivary microbiome analysis as a tool for predicting biogeographic ancestry. Nevertheless, further analysis extended to other Slavic-speaking populations is necessary to clarify this issue.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50435,"journal":{"name":"Forensic Science International-Genetics","volume":"74 ","pages":"Article 103173"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2024-11-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142635067","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Research on correlation between DNA typing and trace characteristics of blood after thermal exposure","authors":"Junyi Di ,&nbsp;Jing Jin ,&nbsp;Jinzhuan Zhang ,&nbsp;Xiaoning Xu ,&nbsp;Chen Li ,&nbsp;Keli Guo ,&nbsp;Chaoyi Shi","doi":"10.1016/j.fsigen.2024.103172","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fsigen.2024.103172","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The identification of biological evidence is particularly important for criminal detection, and the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) analysis plays a significant role in reconstructing events. However, bloodstains after thermal exposure in fires are quite unique compared to those in other scenes. Previous results regarding DNA recovery in bloodstains after heating are inconsistent with each other, which limits guidance for forensic science. In order to confirm the influence of heat on DNA recovery, the important physical evidence, bloodstain, was selected for its common occurrence, and a standard heat source, the Cone Calorimeter, was used to simulate high temperatures in fire scenes. A series of bloodstains were prepared under different heating conditions, and the results of short tandem repeat (STR) typing were systematically correlated with the trace characteristics of bloodstains. The findings indicate that heating bloodstains below 150 °C for less than 10 mins has minimal effect on DNA testing. After heating bloodstains at 150 °C for 20 mins or at 180 °C for 5 mins, partial DNA profiles were obtained, accompanied by blackening and cracking of the bloodstains. After exposure to 180 °C for 20 mins or 200 °C for 10 mins, no DNA profiles were obtained with bloodstains exhibiting metallic lusters and black bulges. Furthermore, from the perspective of chemical bond energy, the C-N, C-O, C-C, and P-O bonds in DNA molecules are prone to breaking during heating. The C-N bond serves as the primary connection between the four bases and the strand, while the C-O, C-C, and P-O bonds are significant connections within the DNA strand. It is thus hypothesized that the breakage of any bond aforementioned during heating results in the failure of DNA typing. Understanding the correlation between trace characteristics of bloodstains and DNA typing results after thermal exposure is crucial for comprehending DNA recovery from physical evidence collected from fire scenes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50435,"journal":{"name":"Forensic Science International-Genetics","volume":"74 ","pages":"Article 103172"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2024-11-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142640229","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Towards the identification of body fluids using RT-LAMP isothermal amplification coupled with CRISPR-Cas12a","authors":"Courtney R.H. Lynch ,&nbsp;Olivia L. Martin ,&nbsp;Craig Billington ,&nbsp;Rachel Fleming","doi":"10.1016/j.fsigen.2024.103167","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fsigen.2024.103167","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>While often necessary in sexual assault cases, confirmatory identification of body fluids can be a lengthy and/or costly process. In particular, the detection of vaginal fluid and menstrual fluid in forensic casework is limited to endpoint reverse-transcription PCR to detect fluid-specific messenger RNA (mRNA) markers as there are no robust chemical or enzymatic techniques available for these fluids. Similarly, testing for rectal mucosa is not possible with standard methods, the presence of which would provide probative value in cases of alleged anal penetration, although mRNA-based markers have recently been described. Reverse-transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) is an alternative technique that enables detection of mRNA at a single temperature (usually 60–65℃) for 10–30 minutes and has comparable sensitivity to PCR. We describe the coupling of RT-LAMP amplification (60℃ for 30 minutes) with CRISPR-mediated fluorescent detection of the body fluid specific mRNA markers <em>MMP3</em> (menstrual fluid)<em>, CYP2B7P</em> (vaginal material)<em>, TNP1</em> (spermatozoa)<em>, KLK2</em> (semen)<em>,</em> and <em>MUC12</em> (rectal mucosa). Following temperature optimization and final selection of RT-LAMP-CRISPR assays, their specificity across circulatory blood, buccal, menstrual fluid, vaginal material, semen, and rectal mucosa was assessed. Most assays were specific for their intended target body fluid, although <em>MMP3</em> and <em>CYP2B7P</em> were detected in some rectal mucosa samples, the latter of which has been observed previously in the literature. A preliminary sensitivity assessment in target fluids was determined by a dilution series over six logs of RNA input. A range of assay approaches were investigated to develop a protocol suitable for use in a forensic screening laboratory. This included the determination of fluorescent assay results by eye, use of lyophilised reagents, and RT-LAMP and CRISPR reactions undertaken in one-tube in a lower resource setting.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50435,"journal":{"name":"Forensic Science International-Genetics","volume":"74 ","pages":"Article 103167"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2024-10-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142565355","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Environmental microbiota from substrate may interfere with microbiome-based identification of forensically relevant body fluids: A pilot study","authors":"Jun Zhang ,&nbsp;Daijing Yu ,&nbsp;Liwei Zhang ,&nbsp;Tian Wang ,&nbsp;Jiangwei Yan","doi":"10.1016/j.fsigen.2024.103170","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fsigen.2024.103170","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The microbiome is a promising tool for identifying body fluids which can be deposited on various substrates at a crime scene. Body fluids collected from crime scenes are not entirely free from substrate microbes whose effects on the microbiome-based identification of body fluids are not well understood. In this study, five body fluids (peripheral blood, menstrual blood, nasal secretions, saliva, and semen) were deposited on sterile swabs, bedspreads, and floors under indoor exposure conditions for 7 days. The microbial communities in the samples were characterized using amplicon sequencing targeted V4 region of 16S rRNA gene. The results showed that the microbial communities of fresh samples deposited on sterile swabs clustered together according to the type of body fluid. The microbial composition of the body fluids deposited on the bedspread and floor is significant different from those deposited on sterile swabs. The microbial communities of mock body fluids were a mixture of microbes from pure body fluids and environmental microbes. FEAST analysis showed that the microbes of mock saliva samples were mainly from pure body fluids (51.53 % and 63.04 % on the bedspread and floor, respectively), but not from substrates (25.70 % and 18.92 % on the bedspread and floor, respectively). Contrary results were observed in peripheral blood, mock nasal secretion, and semen samples. All samples were mainly clustered based on the substrate, but not on the type of body fluid in the PCoA visualization. PERMANOVA results showed that the substrate accounted for more of the variance (R² = 0.211, P &lt; 0.001) than the type of body fluid (R² = 0.152, P &lt; 0.001). MicroDecon was used to remove contamination by microbes from the substrate of mock body fluid samples. PCoA and PERMANOVA were performed using decontaminated data. The results showed that samples were no longer clustered based on the substrate, and the type of body fluid (R² = 0.240, P &lt; 0.001) accounted for more of the variance in the microbial communities of samples than the substrate (R² = 0.108, P &lt; 0.001). Our results suggest that environmental microbiota from substrates may interfere with the microbiome-based identification of forensically relevant body fluids. To some extent, decontamination could decrease the effects of the substrate on the microbial communities of the samples and enhance the ability to distinguish between the types of body fluids. This pilot study will be valuable in promoting the application of microbiome-based stain analysis in forensics.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50435,"journal":{"name":"Forensic Science International-Genetics","volume":"74 ","pages":"Article 103170"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2024-10-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142592620","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Characterisation of identity-informative genetic markers in the Australian population with European ancestry","authors":"Jessica L. Watson ,&nbsp;Kaymann Cho ,&nbsp;Kelly Grisedale ,&nbsp;Jodie Ward ,&nbsp;Dennis McNevin","doi":"10.1016/j.fsigen.2024.103169","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fsigen.2024.103169","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Identity-informative single nucleotide polymorphisms (iiSNPs) are valuable genetic markers for human identification and kinship testing in forensic casework, especially when the quality and quantity of DNA evidence is not suitable for routine short tandem repeat (STR) profiling. This study analysed 105 buccal samples representing the Australian population with European ancestry in order to assign allele frequencies and conduct population genetic analyses for 94 iiSNPs and 20 STRs. The markers were assessed by calculating relevant forensic statistics and testing for deviations from Hardy-Weinberg and linkage equilibrium. No linkage of statistical significance was observed between any of the pair-wise combinations of the combined 114 identity-informative markers and only one STR exhibited deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (D8S1179). The probability of matching genotypes being observed within this population was of the order of 10⁻²³ for STRs, 10⁻³⁸ for iiSNPs and 10⁻⁶⁰ for the combined identity-informative marker panel, improving the ability to discriminate between individuals when calculating likelihood ratios in direct or indirect matching scenarios. Further, the addition of iiSNPs will facilitate identifications when suboptimal STR profiles are recovered from compromised or challenging samples and aid comparisons to genetic relatives for familial or kinship testing.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50435,"journal":{"name":"Forensic Science International-Genetics","volume":"74 ","pages":"Article 103169"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2024-10-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142549769","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Driver or passenger? Use of a Bayesian network for the evaluation of DNA results in a fatal car accident","authors":"Lydie Samie ,&nbsp;Christophe Champod ,&nbsp;Tacha Hicks ,&nbsp;Séverine Delemont ,&nbsp;Vincent Castella","doi":"10.1016/j.fsigen.2024.103166","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fsigen.2024.103166","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This article presents a case where the issue was to determine who was the driver and who was the passenger at the time of a fatal car accident involving two persons, one of whom died in the accident. The presence of the two persons in the car was not contested, only the mechanisms that led to the deposition of the DNA (i.e., the activities) were. To our knowledge, few cases are evaluated considering the alleged activities. The reasons for this include the lack of knowledge, and data, as well as the difficulties encountered for the formulation of conclusions. In this case report, we present the architecture of the Bayesian Network (BN) used to evaluate the DNA results of the traces recovered from the steering wheel, driver's and passenger’s airbags. The following propositions were considered: “The person of interest (POI) was driving the car and the alternative person (AP) was the passenger at the time of the accident” or vice versa. We discuss the assumptions that were made and how data from the literature was used to parametrize into the BN. A likelihood ratio of the order of 90 was finally assigned. The statement proposed to the mandating authority indicated that, given the information that was made available to us, our observations were of the order of 90 times more probable if the POI was driving the car at the time of the accident rather than if the AP was. A sensitivity analysis was performed (5000 simulations): this shows that our likelihood ratio is robust.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50435,"journal":{"name":"Forensic Science International-Genetics","volume":"74 ","pages":"Article 103166"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2024-10-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142523931","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mass spectrometry-based proteomics for source-level attribution after DNA extraction","authors":"Layal Zaarour ,&nbsp;Matthew Padula ,&nbsp;Roland A.H. van Oorschot ,&nbsp;Dennis McNevin","doi":"10.1016/j.fsigen.2024.103168","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fsigen.2024.103168","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Biological traces recovered from crime scenes serve as vital evidence in forensic investigations. While DNA evidence is frequently used to address the sub-source level of the hierarchy of propositions, the biological source of the DNA can be highly probative at the source level. Current body fluid detection methods pose certain limitations, such as reports of false positive results from some of the presumptive and/or confirmatory tests in current use. These tests are also individual tests for the detection of one body fluid, meaning that if the sample is suspected to be a mixture of multiple body fluids, then different tests would need to be conducted to confirm the body fluid(s) present, which may exhaust small amounts of available biological trace. Proteomics applications for the identification of body fluids have been previously explored, and potential biomarkers indicative of body fluids discovered from liquid-chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) methods have been reported. This work focuses on developing a mass spectrometry-based proteomics approach for the identification of body fluids by targeting discriminating peptide biomarkers from the non-DNA component left over after DNA extraction of samples. The non-DNA component is typically a waste product but with unappreciated evidential value. Our methodology for the purification of proteins from the post-DNA extraction waste includes an acetone precipitation and single-pot solid-phase-enhanced sample preparation (SP3) technique, microwave-assisted trypsin digestion, and LC-MS/MS analysis of the resultant peptides. Preliminary results from this proof-of-concept study include a list of potentially discriminating proteins and peptides for blood, saliva, and semen developed from the analysis of post-DNA extraction waste. Our method allows for multiple analytes to be targeted simultaneously from a DNA profiling waste stream and we anticipate that it could eventually be incorporated into standard forensic laboratory workflows.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50435,"journal":{"name":"Forensic Science International-Genetics","volume":"74 ","pages":"Article 103168"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2024-10-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142635065","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Who threw that stone? A study on DNA transfer","authors":"Aileen Sorg,&nbsp;Colin Charles Tièche,&nbsp;Martin Zieger","doi":"10.1016/j.fsigen.2024.103165","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fsigen.2024.103165","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Contact or touch DNA traces from stones account for around 5 % of all crime scene-related swab samples analysed in our department. These traces are often used to identify perpetrators in cases such as burglary, when a stone is used as a tool to break a window or in cases of property damage during riots. Provided that a DNA profile can be obtained in such a case, questions may arise in court regarding the possibilities of DNA transfer onto the stone. Was the subject's DNA indeed transferred onto the stone while it was being used for the crime, or was it already present as background DNA? Alternatively, could it have been transferred by other means, such as by handing over the stone to someone else who then threw it, or by touching it during an attempt to prevent someone else from throwing it? This study focused on two scenarios: experiments involving different participants throwing various stones and a handover scenario where one person touched the stone and another person threw it. We observed that the amount of DNA transferred/detected on the stone is mainly dependent on the individual handling it rather than on the properties of the stone itself or on the order in which the stones are thrown. In the handover scenario, the person who first touched the stone was found to be the main contributor to the trace as often as the person who eventually threw the stone. Our findings therefore confirm that no conclusions can be drawn about the way of interaction with the stones based solely on the obtained DNA profiles.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50435,"journal":{"name":"Forensic Science International-Genetics","volume":"74 ","pages":"Article 103165"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2024-10-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142515272","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}