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Suitability of specific soft tissue swabs for the forensic identification of highly decomposed bodies
- Source :
- International Journal of Legal Medicine
- Publication Year :
- 2021
- Publisher :
- Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2021.
-
Abstract
- When decomposition of a recovered body is fairly advanced, identification based on common morphologic features is often impossible. In these cases, short tandem repeat (STR) marker genotyping has established itself as a convenient and reliable alternative. However, at very progressed stages of decomposition, postmortem tissue putrefaction processes can decrease DNA yields considerably. Hence, not all types of tissue are equally suitable for successful STR marker-based postmortem identification. Bone or dental material is often analysed in corpses with advanced decompositional changes. However, processing of these materials is very elaborate and time and resource consuming. We have therefore focused on the suitableness of various types of soft tissue swabs, where DNA extraction is easier and faster. By sampling 28 bodies at various stages of decomposition, we evaluated the suitability of different tissues for genotyping at varying degrees of physical decay. This was achieved by a systematic classification of the sampled bodies by morphological scoring and subsequent analysis of multiple tissue swabs of the aortic wall, urinary bladder wall, brain, liver, oral mucosa and skeletal muscle. In summary, we found variable degrees of suitability of different types of soft tissue swabs for DNA-based identification. Swabs of the aortic wall, the urinary bladder wall and brain tissue yielded the best results — in descending order — even at advanced levels of decay. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00414-021-02601-3.
- Subjects :
- Male
Pathology
medicine.medical_specialty
STR marker
Urinary Bladder
Biology
Pathology and Forensic Medicine
medicine
Humans
Sampling (medicine)
Oral mucosa
Muscle, Skeletal
Putrefaction
Genotyping
Aorta
Brain Chemistry
Decomposition
DNA Degradation, Necrotic
Mouth Mucosa
Soft tissues
Soft tissue
DNA
DNA profiling
Forensic identification
DNA Fingerprinting
DNA extraction
Body Remains
medicine.anatomical_structure
Liver
Postmortem Changes
Forensic Anthropology
Original Article
Female
Microsatellite Repeats
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 14371596 and 09379827
- Volume :
- 135
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- International Journal of Legal Medicine
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....9b1e274aba2bbe4a3ec98a82a6cbb28f