EBL TRAINING CASE: A Grim Discovery

1 Excavations for the foundations of the latest house on the outskirts of Newton were

2 nearing completion. The attention of the driver of the mechanical digger was drawn to

3 an unusual object in the last pile of sandy soil he had scooped from the surface of the

4 ground: it appeared to be a collection of small bones and a skull that seemed

5 unmistakably human.

7 The police were called and the area sealed off. A Home Office Pathologist was called

8 to the scene and she confirmed their suspicions: based on the mixed dentition present,

9 these were the remains of a young child. The remains were carefully removed for

10 further forensic examination.

11

12 The pathologist consulted her colleague, a Forensic Odontologist, to make a more

13 thorough examination of the jaw and give an estimate of the child’s age and any other

14 details that might help with identification. The contemporary restorations suggested

15 that the remains were from the last few years.

16

17 Although there was no soft tissue on the skeletal remains, the Forensic Odontologist

18 managed to obtain sufficient material for DNA analysis and she was able to determine

19 the sex of the victim.

Body in Health:

Eruption dates of the permanent dentition

6-7 years Upper AND Lower FIRST MOLAR (6s)

Lower CENTRAL INCISORS (1s)
7-8 years Upper CENTRAL INCISORS (1s)
Lower LATERAL INCISORS (2s)
8-9 years Upper LATERAL INCISORS (2s)
9-10 years Lower CANINES (3s)
10-11 years Upper FIRST PREMOLARS (4s)
10-12 years Lower FIRST PREMOLARS (4s)
Upper SECOND PREMOLARS (5s)
11-12 years Upper CANINES (3s)
Lower SECOND PREMOLARS (5s)
11-13 years Lower SECOND MOLARS (7s)
12-13 years Upper SECOND MOLARS (7s)
17-21 years Upper AND Lower WISDOM TEETH (8s)

Difference between primary and permanent dentition:

Primary Teeth Permanent Teeth

Whiter Yellow, due to higher levels of dentine
Premolars absent Premolars present
Sharper canines and squarer incisors Teeth are blunter
More spaces between teeth Teeth are closer together
Shallower fissures Deeper fissures
Wear is more common Wear not as easily
Flatter contact posts Rounder contact points
Bigger pulp chambers in relation to tooth size Small pulp chambers in relation to tooth size

Structure of a tooth:

What is the Basic Structure of DNA?

DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is double-helical genetic material with four nucleotides that will aid the
creation of amino acids (and future proteins). The double-helical structure is held together with
hydrogen bonds between the nucleotides, with a phosphate backbone on the outside of the helix.
 The structure of a single nucleotide is below:

- Phosphate backbone (which link together with a phosphodiester bond)

- Ribose sugar

- Aromatic bases (purine or pyrimidine ring)

o Purines: Adenine and Guanine

o Pyrimidines: Thymine, Cytosine and Uracil (found in RNA)

 What is its function?

o DNA encodes all the information necessary for development

o DNA codes for amino acids, which for different structured proteins which are found
everywhere in the body, from the outside (hair, nails) to the inside (collagen, cell barriers)

 How does DNA replicate?

1) DNA begins to unzip, the hydrogen bonds between the base pairs are broken with the
enzyme DNA helicase

2) Once the bases are exposed, this serves as a template to guide the complementary
bases on the strand being synthesised (this can only happen from 5’ to 3’)

3) The joining of the nucleotides is synthesised by DNA polymerase, shunting along the
DNA in the 5’ to 3’ direction

4) RNA primase inserts a starter RNA nucleotide at the initiation point

5) Each nucleotide is covalently linked to the number 3 carbon in the pentose sugar

6) The nucleotides are assembled in the order that complements the order of bases on the
template strand

7) The excess phosphate (called pyrophosphate) in the nucleotide is removed when the
nucleotides bond, this forms phosphodiester bond

8) Each strand is then joined together by DNA ligase

How do we use DNA to identify the sex of the victim?

1) Polymerase chain reaction to amplify DNA

2) Southern blot hybridisation – a procedure for identifying specific sequences of DNA, this can be
used to identify the Y chromosome. If why Y chromosome present then boy, if absent then girl

 DNA Markers: DNA sequence with a known location on a chromosome that can be used to identify
individuals

 DNA Profiling