Utility of Saliva and Stains of Saliva in Deoxyribonucleic Acid Fingerprinting: Application in Forensic Odontology.

Background: To isolate deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) from blood, saliva, buccal swab, and betel quid (BQ) by phenol-chloroform method and Chelex method, and compare the efficacy of both the methods. To carry out restriction digestion of the DNA samples isolated from above mentioned sources using the restriction enzyme EcoRI (GΙAATTC) and identify individuals based on the pattern of restriction banding and to ascertain the applicability of the restriction digestion in forensics. Materials and Methods: Blood, saliva, BQ, and buccal swab were collected from 15 patients, and DNA isolation was done by phenolchloroform method and Chelex method. DNA fingerprinting was carried out using EcoRI restriction enzyme. Results: DNA could be extracted from residues of saliva, DNA fingerprinting done with the isolated DNA was able to match with those of individuals. Chelex method was found to be more efficient than the phenol-chloroform method. Conclusion: The study proves to establish a decisive method for DNA extraction from samples collected from different sources of saliva and from traces of salivary stains comparable with that of blood. Identification of individual from samples collected from different sources of saliva and from traces of salivary stains can also be done by DNA fingerprinting or profiling which is based on the fact that although most of the DNA is common to all human beings some areas differ from individual to individual as is evident from the banding pattern obtained in the present study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]