Genetic identification of decomposed cadavers using nails as DNA source

Allouche, M.; Hamdoum, M.; Mangin, Patrice; Castella, Vincent

doi:10.1016/j.fsigen.2008.07.008

Scientific article

English

Genetic identification of decomposed cadavers using nails as DNA source

Contributors

Allouche, M.; Hamdoum, M.; Mangin, Patrice; Castella, Vincent

Published in

Forensic science international. Genetics, vol. 3, no. 1, p. 46-49

Publication date

2008

Abstract

Blood or muscle can be used as a DNA source for the genetic identification of recently deceased persons. If the post mortem interval increases, bones and teeth are used. In this case, collection and DNA isolation will be more difficult and time consuming. The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of nails as an alternative DNA source for the genetic identification of decomposed cadavers. DNA extraction from 5 mg of fingernails from 7 volunteers using 1 h cell lysis in a standard buffer and a DNA purification on QIAamp DNA mini kit columns allowed to acquire a mean quantity of 100 ng DNA/mg nail. This was unexpected, as blood and muscle contain comparable amounts of DNA. Our protocol allowed to obtain full PowerPlex 16 DNA profiles from 10 cadavers characterized by post mortem intervals ranging from 5 days to more than 6 months. The good quality of these profiles indicated that DNA from nail is well preserved. In conclusion, nails are very easy to collect and contain large amounts of good quality DNA that can be extracted within a few hours. They may therefore represent an attractive DNA source not only for routine, but also for urgent genetic identification of decomposed cadavers.

Keywords

Forensic DNA profiling
Genetic identification
Short tandem repeats
Nail

UNIGE affiliation entities

Faculté de médecine / Section de médecine clinique / Département de santé et médecine communautaires / Institut de médecine légale

UNIGE research groups

Groupe Mangin Patrice (médecine légale) (862)

Citation (ISO format)

ALLOUCHE, M. et al. Genetic identification of decomposed cadavers using nails as DNA source. In: Forensic science international. Genetics, 2008, vol. 3, n° 1, p. 46–49. doi: 10.1016/j.fsigen.2008.07.008

Article (Accepted version)

Identifiers

PID : unige:2691
DOI : 10.1016/j.fsigen.2008.07.008

Journal ISSN

1872-4973

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Creation

15/09/2009 16:19:00

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15/09/2009 16:19:00

Update

14/03/2023 15:11:40

Status update

14/03/2023 15:11:40

Last indexation

29/10/2024 11:59:46

Genetic identification of decomposed cadavers using nails as DNA source

Contributors

Published in

Publication date

Abstract

Keywords

UNIGE affiliation entities

UNIGE research groups

Citation (ISO format)

Main files (1)

Identifiers

Journal ISSN

Technical informations

Creation

First validation

Update

Status update

Last indexation