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Forensic mass screening using mtDNA

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Abstract

At the forensic autopsy of a sexual murder victim, some trace hairs, possibly belonging to the perpetrator, were saved. Initially, the analysis of a pubic hair shaft only revealed the presence of the mitochondrial (mt) DNA haplotype profile consisting of the (CA)6 allele and the complete hypervariable region 1 (HV1) and 2 (HV2) sequence. Later, typing of some further telogene trace hairs, which had been stored for several years, yielded a nuclear short tandem repeat (STR) profile. We used both the mtDNA haplotype and the STR profile to start a DNA mass screening project involving 2,335 male citizens of the relevant communities. MtDNA screening was carried out by using the CA repeat amplification in combination with an SNP typing procedure based on the restriction site analysis of amplified d-loop sequences. The aim of our paper is to put mass screening with mtDNA up for discussion.

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Acknowledgement

We would like to thank Dr. H.-J. Kärgel from the Landeskriminalamt Sachsen-Anhalt, Magdeburg, Germany, for providing the DNA specimen extracted from a pubic hair of criminal relevance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Rechtsmedizin, Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg, Leipziger Strasse 44, 39120, Magdeburg, Germany

    Reinhard Szibor, Ines Plate, Holger Wittig & Dieter Krause

  2. Bundeskriminalamt, Kriminaltechnisches Institut, Thaerstrasse 11, 65193, Wiesbaden, Germany

    Herrmann Schmitter

Authors
  1. Reinhard Szibor
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  2. Ines Plate
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  3. Herrmann Schmitter
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  4. Holger Wittig
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  5. Dieter Krause
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Reinhard Szibor.

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Szibor, R., Plate, I., Schmitter, H. et al. Forensic mass screening using mtDNA. Int J Legal Med 120, 372–376 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-006-0085-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-006-0085-y

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