Touch DNA-The prospect of DNA profiles from cables.

Metal theft in the railroad industry poses significant challenges to transport investigators. Cable sheaths left behind at crime scenes, if appropriately analysed, could provide valuable evidence in a forensic investigation, but attempts at recovering DNA are not routinely made. Experiments were set up to ascertain the success in DNA recovery from the surface of cable sheaths after deposition of (a) sweat, (b) extracted DNA and (c) fingermarks. Since investigators try to collect fingermarks and often treat the cables with cyanoacrylate fuming (CNA fuming) or wet powder suspensions (WPS) to enhance the marks this study investigated the recovery of DNA from fingermarks pre- and post-enhancement. The double-swab technique and mini-taping were compared as options to recover DNA from the cable sheaths. Results demonstrate that generally, there is no significant difference between using swabs or mini-tapes to recover the DNA from the non-porous cables (p>0.05). It was also illustrated that CNA fuming performed better than WPS in terms of subsequent recovery and profiling of DNA. CNA fuming resulted in an average increase in DNA recovered via swabbing and taping (more than 4× and 8×, respectively), as compared to no treatment, with 50% of the DNA recovered after CNA fuming generating full DNA profiles.

An investigation of two methods of DNA recovery from fired and unfired 9 mm ammunition.

Cartridge cases are often recovered from crime scenes involving firearms and, in the United Kingdom (where gun possession is strictly controlled), these are commonly from 9 mm calibre ammunition. The ability to obtain informative DNA profiles from touch DNA on recovered cartridges could have a significant impact on the investigation of that type of offence. However, this avenue may not be routinely considered as investigators in the UK have historically had a low expectation of obtaining useful DNA profiles. This stance may not be unreasonable given that (a) only trace amounts of DNA are likely to have been transferred onto the cartridge cases through handling; and (b) when the cartridge is spent, the potential deterioration of that DNA caused by the act of discharging the weapon. We introduce a novel semi-automatable method using direct lysis for the recovery of DNA from ammunition and compare it with a traditional double-swabbing method (using wet and dry swabs). DNA profiling of the DNA recovered using both methods was carried out using the ESI17 FAST STR system (Promega). This demonstrated a significant increase in DNA recovery using the direct lysis approach, and correspondingly improved STR results. We also investigated the effect on the recovery and profiling of DNA from fired, and unfired, 9 mm cartridges using the direct lysis technique. These results demonstrate that DNA suitable for STR analysis can still be recovered from fired ammunition with only slightly reduced yields compared to unfired ammunition. In these experiments, the handler of the ammunition was most commonly either the sole contributor or the major contributor to the recovered DNA profile.

DNA Profiles from Fingerprint Lifts-Enhancing the Evidential Value of Fingermarks Through Successful DNA Typing.

This study evaluated the compatibility of the most common enhancement methods and lifting techniques with DNA profiling. Emphasis is placed on modern lifting techniques (i.e., gelatin lifters and Isomark™) and historical fingerprint lifts for which limited research has been previously conducted. A total of 180 fingerprints were deposited on a glass surface, enhanced, lifted, and processed for DNA typing. DNA could be extracted and profiled for all the powders and lifts tested and from both groomed fingerprints and natural prints with no significant difference in the percentage of profile recovered. DNA profiles could also be obtained from historical fingerprint lifts (79.2% of 72 lifts) with one or more alleles detected. These results demonstrate the compatibility between different powder/lift combinations and DNA profiling therefore augmenting the evidential value of fingerprints in forensic casework.