DNA Methylation: the Future of Crime Scene Investigation?

Overview

Journal Mol Biol Rep

Specialty Molecular Biology

Date 2013 May 8

PMID 23649761

Citations 5

Authors

Branka Grskovic

Dario Zrnec

Sanja Vickovic

Maja Popovic

Gordan Mrsic

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Proper detection and subsequent analysis of biological evidence is crucial for crime scene reconstruction. The number of different criminal acts is increasing rapidly. Therefore, forensic geneticists are constantly on the battlefield, trying hard to find solutions how to solve them. One of the essential defensive lines in the fight against the invasion of crime is relying on DNA methylation. In this review, the role of DNA methylation in body fluid identification and other DNA methylation applications are discussed. Among other applications of DNA methylation, age determination of the donor of biological evidence, analysis of the parent-of-origin specific DNA methylation markers at imprinted loci for parentage testing and personal identification, differentiation between monozygotic twins due to their different DNA methylation patterns, artificial DNA detection and analyses of DNA methylation patterns in the promoter regions of circadian clock genes are the most important ones. Nevertheless, there are still a lot of open chapters in DNA methylation research that need to be closed before its final implementation in routine forensic casework.

Citing Articles

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