How is DNA Used in

Forensics?
 DNA Collection & Comparison
• Overview:
– Investigators gather samples from the crime
scene and from suspects and then analyze it
for a set of specific DNA regions or markers.
– A match of one marker is not usually unique,
but if a sample matches four or five markers,
there is a very good chance it is a match.
 DNA Collection & Comparison
• DNA is collected at crime scenes in a
variety of ways using tools such as:
– Smear slides, scalpels, tweezers, scissors,
sterile cloth squares, UV light, luminol and/or
blood collection kits (for sample collection of
suspects or living victims)
• DNA samples can be from:
– Saliva, blood, hair strands, skin, finger or toe
nails, and/or a tooth with root material
 DNA Collection & Comparison
• How is blood collected?
– Blood on Clothing?
• Investigators submit whole pieces of clothing or
they may use a sterile cloth square and a small
amount of distilled water
– Dried blood on furniture?
• Investigators send the whole object to the lab
– Dried blood on a wall, tub or some other
object too big or difficult to move to the lab?
• Investigators scrape the blood sample into a sterile
container for further analysis
 DNA Collection & Comparison
• Analysis of DNA??
– Uses various DNA Technologies
• RFLP
• PCR
• STR
• Mitochondrial DNA Analysis
RFLP: Restriction Fragment Length
Polymorphism
• Analyzes variable lengths of DNA
fragments
• One of the original applications of DNA
analysis
• Not used as much anymore because it
requires a large quantity of DNA sample
and samples degraded by the environment
do not work well with RFLP
 PCR: Polymerase Chain Reaction
• Used to make millions of exact copies of
DNA from a biological sample
• Allows very small samples to be analyzed,
such as a sample of a few skin cells
• Must be very careful about contamination
in this process
 STR: Short Tandem Repeat
• Evaluates specific regions (loci) within
nuclear DNA
• FBI uses 13 standard specific STR regions
for CODIS
 Mitochondrial DNA Analysis
• Used for samples that cannot be analyzed
using RFLP or STR
• Uses DNA extracted from mitochondrion
rather than nuclear DNA
• Especially useful in old cases and old
samples
 DNA Collection & Comparison
• What happens after the samples are collected?
– A DNA profile is created….how??
• Markers are found by designing small pieces of DNA
(probes) that will seek out and bind to complementary DNA
sequences. This creates a distinct pattern. Again, one
marker is not usually unique, but with four or five regions the
match is likely
– The DNA profiles are compared with samples from
suspects to find possible matches.
– If there are no suspects, a national database called
CODIS may be used to find potential suspects.
 DNA Collection & Comparison
• More on CODIS:
– Stands for Combined DNA Index System
– National Network that helps identify leads for
crimes with no suspects
– Three tiers: Local (LDIS), State (SDIS),
National (NDIS)
– Uses 13 DNA regions that vary from person to
person
– Looks for matches at more than one location
on a genome for more accurate results
 Sources of DNA at Crime Scenes
• Cool table at:
– http://www.dna.gov/basics/evidence_collectio
n/identifying
 Sources of DNA at Crime Scenes
• Examples of sources from real cases:
– Saliva on the stamp of a stalker’s threatening letter
– Skin cells shed on a ligature of a strangled victim
– Perspiration on a baseball cap discarded by a rapist
was compared with the DNA in the saliva swabbed
from a bite mark on a different rape victim
– DNA analysis of a single hair (without the root) found
deep in a victim’s throat
– Maggots can contain DNA
of a perpetrator
 How can DNA evidence be
planted??
• Sneezing or coughing over evidence
• Person touches their mouth, nose or other
part of the face and then touches the area
that may contain the DNA to be tested.
• Scene personnel can deposit hairs, fibers,
or trace material from their clothing
• Wind can carry in contaminants
 Other Uses of DNA
• Paternity Testing and Proving Family
Relations
• Identification of John or Jane Does
• Study of evolution and ancestry
• Studying Inherited Disorders
 Other Uses of DNA
• Identifying Stolen Trees, Poached Animals
– www.purdue.edu/UNS/html3month/2004/0407
01.Woeste.rustling.html
Molecular geneticist Keith Woeste at
Purdue University was able to prove this
chunk of walnut wood came from a tree
stolen in Warren County. Working in the
USDA Forest Service Hardwood Tree
Improvement and Regeneration Center at
Purdue, Woeste ground the wood into a
fine powder to extract enough DNA
evidence to convince investigators the
wood matched that of the stolen tree,
which had been sold to a sawmill. (Purdue
Agricultural Communication photo/Tom
Campbell)
 Sources
• http://www.safenetwork.org/DNA_Information.ht
ml
• http://www.troopers.state.ny.us/Forensic%5FSci
ence/DNA/
• http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_G
enome/elsi/forensics.shtml
• http://www.howstuffworks.com/dna-evidence3.ht
m
• http://www.howstuffworks.com/csi4.htm
• www.ncjrs.gov/txtfiles1/nij/bc000614.txt
 Sources
• http://images.google.com/imgres?
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• www.cji.net/CJI/CenterInfo/fscec/Contamination.htm
• http://www.courttv.com/trials/westerfield/071702_ctv.html