Morphological and Autofluorescence Dataset for ‘Touch’ Epidermal Cell Populations Collected with Imaging Flow Cytometry [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review]

Background New methods for processing ‘touch’ or trace biological samples is an ongoing priority for forensic caseworking laboratories. These samples often contain materials from multiple individuals in varying quantities and/or degrees of degradation. Rapid characterization of cellular material before DNA profiling can allow laboratories to screen samples for the presence of multiple contributors or the amount of biological material present. Methods This dataset contains autofluorescence and morphological profiles of epidermal cell populations analyzed using Imaging Flow Cytometry. The epidermal samples were aged for varying amounts of time prior to analysis. Multiple samples from the same individual were also collected to assess profile variations within and across the contributors. Conclusions This data set may be used to investigate variability in epidermal cell populations from different individuals and potential forensic signatures contained within the non-genetic components that comprise touch biological evidence.