Evaluating the Usefulness of Human DNA Quantification to Predict DNA Profiling Success of Historical Bone Samples.

This study assessed the usefulness of DNA quantification to predict the success of historical samples when analyzing SNPs, mtDNA, and STR targets. Thirty burials from six historical contexts were utilized, ranging in age from 80 to 800 years postmortem. Samples underwent library preparation and hybridization capture with two bait panels (FORCE and mitogenome), and STR typing (autosomal STR and Y-STR). All 30 samples generated small (~80 bp) autosomal DNA target qPCR results, despite mean mappable fragments ranging from 55-125 bp. The qPCR results were positively correlated with DNA profiling success. Samples with human DNA inputs as low as 100 pg resulted in ≥80% FORCE SNPs at 10X coverage. All 30 samples resulted in mitogenome coverage ≥100X despite low human DNA input (as low as 1 pg). With PowerPlex Fusion, ≥30 pg human DNA input resulted in >40% of auSTR loci. At least 59% of Y-STR loci were recovered with Y-target qPCR-based inputs of ≥24 pg. The results also indicate that human DNA quantity is a better predictor of success than the ratio of human to exogenous DNA. Accurate quantification with qPCR is feasible for historical bone samples, allowing for the screening of extracts to predict the success of DNA profiling.

Modernizing Medical Museums Through the 3D Digitization of Pathological Specimens.

The anatomical collections at the National Museum of Health and Medicine (NMHM) contain skeletal specimens that highlight the history of military and civilian medicine dating from the American Civil War and the founding of the museum as the Army Medical Museum in 1862. Today, NMHM curates over 6400 gross skeletal specimens consisting primarily of pathological or anomalous single bone elements that display a variety of pathological conditions, including congenital anomalies, neoplasms, healed and unhealed trauma and infectious diseases, and surgical interventions such as amputations and excisions. In an effort to increase accessibility to these pathological specimens, NMHM is collaborating with Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and the Laboratory Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to digitize and disseminate high-quality 3D models via online portals, enabling scholars and educators to manipulate, analyze, and 3D print the models from anywhere in the world. Many institutions with courses in paleopathology and forensic anthropology do not have reference collections or access to museum collections for hands-on teaching. Therefore a digital repository of osteological specimens can provide an unprecedented and unique resource of exemplars for scholars and educators. The sharing of these military medical assets improves historical knowledge and diagnostic capabilities in the fields of medicine and anthropology. This chapter outlines the digitization processes that are being utilized to increase access to these pathological skeletal specimens through multimodal 3D capture.

Daniel Smith Lamb (1843-1929): A window into the early histories of the Army Medical Museum and Howard University Medical School.

U.S. Army doctor Daniel Smith Lamb was a significant figure in the history of American pathology during its formative years. For 55 years (1865-1920), Lamb performed hundreds of autopsies in and around Washington, D.C. and personally collected over 1,500 gross pathology specimens for the Army Medical Museum. His work began at the close of the Civil War and continued on through World War I, contributing substantially to gross pathological and histological studies that documented wartime pathology, thus further contributing to the training of Army doctors. Specimens he collected also include material from autopsies he conducted on President James Garfield, his assassin Charles Guiteau, and other historical figures. Under the auspices of the Army Medical Museum, he conducted autopsies across the city of Washington for the museum's collection, many of which survive to this day at the National Museum of Health and Medicine. He served under 12 U.S. Army Surgeons General and 11 Museum Curators and was noted to be a steadying influence during a time of constant leadership changes at that institution. Lamb was known throughout Washington, D.C. as an advocate of medical education for African-Americans and women. While working at the Museum, he simultaneously served for 46 years as professor of anatomy at Howard University (1877-1923). He wrote seminal histories of the institutions with which he was associated and in so doing also contributed significantly to the study of the history of medicine.

DNA Testing Reveals the Putative Identity of JB55, a 19th Century Vampire Buried in Griswold, Connecticut.

In 1990 in Griswold, Connecticut, archaeologists excavated a burial found in a "skull and crossbones" orientation. The lid of the 19th century coffin had brass tacks that spelled "JB55", the initials of the person lying there and age at death. JB55 had evidence of chronic pulmonary infection, perhaps tuberculosis. It is possible that JB55 was deemed a vampire due to his disease, and therefore had to be "killed" by mutilating his corpse. In an attempt to reveal the identity of JB55, DNA testing was performed. Ancestry informative single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis using the Precision ID Ancestry Panel indicated European ancestry. A full Y-chromosomal short tandem repeat (Y-STR) profile was obtained, belonging to haplogroup R1b. When the Y-STR profile was searched in the publicly accessible FamilyTreeDNA R1b Project website, the two closest matches had the surname "Barber". A search of historical records led to a death notice mentioning John Barber, whose son Nathan Barber was buried in Griswold in 1826. The description of Nathan Barber closely fits the burial of "NB13," found near JB55. By applying modern forensic DNA tools to a historical mystery, the identity of JB55 as John Barber, the 19th century Connecticut vampire, has been revealed.

Beyond Taphonomy: Exploring Craniometric Variation Among Anatomical Material.

Anatomical crania are occasionally encountered in forensic anthropology laboratories when that material is mistaken for forensically significant human remains. Using craniometric analyses and statistical measures of sample homogeneity, we determine whether anatomical material can be described as a single, homogenous group or as a diverse mix of populations. Twenty-one interlandmark distances were collected from 85 anatomical preparations. Distance measures were calculated between all pairs using a pooled within-sample variance/covariance matrix and then subjected to a Defrise-Gussenhoven test between each paired distance to test whether each pair was drawn randomly from the same population. In the Defrise-Gussenhoven analysis, twenty-two percent (n = 66) of the 300 pairwise combinations were significant at the 0.05 level or below. The level of homogeneity suggests a majority of that material originated from the subcontinent of India or West Asia. Therefore, anatomical material can be viewed as a moderately homogenous group, but with a shared taphonomic history.