Chapter 12

DNA
DEOXYRIBONUCLEIC ACID

• Dna MODEL

During the mid 1980’s, DNA analysis was first recognized as having application to forensic
science by the British molecular biologist Alex Jeffreys. From work in his laboratory and from other
laboratories, it was realized that DNA has been utilized as a new powerful tool for human
identification.
• DNA offers the following advantages:
• DNA is stable- it can be isolated from material that is months or even years old
• DNA can be isolated from wide variety of biological resources like blood, semen, hair, saliva
and bone.
• DNA can be replicated in the laboratory- from a very small amount of initial material through
the process of PCR (POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION)
• DNA shows greater variability from one individual to the next.
• WAYS TO GET SAMPLES OF dna
• What is DNA?
DNA is functionally the hereditary material that contains the genetic information necessary
for the duplication of cells and for the production of proteins. Chemically, it is an acid, is rich in
phosphorous, it contains a deoxyribose sugar, and contains the four bases of pairwise equivalency. It
is a double helix composed of two complimentary strands.
• FACTS ABOUT DNA
• DNA- de-oxy-ri-bo-nu-cle-ic-acid
-it is a chemical substance found in all cells whose composition have been passed on from
parents to their children.
- all cells in the body have the same DNA composition EXCEPT individual egg and sperm cell.
2. BIOLOGICAL EVIDENCES that can be submitted for DNA analysis:
a. blood and blood stain e. Bones and organs
b. semen and seminal stain f. tissues and cells
c. hairs and follicles
d. saliva and buccal swab

3. LINE UP OF CASES where DNA ANALYSIS can be of help:

a. sexual assault case like rape
b. Murder
c. Homicide
d. Robbery
e. hit and run
f. extortion
g. Paternity case
h. identification of remains from mass disaster cases and missing persons.

4. How DNA ANALYSIS is used to identify with accuracy the perpetrators of the crime:
 Human tissues such as hair, blood, semen are often left in places where a crime has been
committed. By carefully collecting such bits of tissues, their owner can be identified from the DNA
pattern obtained.
• Guidelines for the collection and preservation of sample evidence for
dna analysis
There are hundreds of varieties of physical evidence commonly submitted for examination for
forensic science in laboratories by law enforcement agencies. Evidence that could be subjected for
DNA analysis is generally limited to substance that have been successfully isolated and analyzed are
the following:
• Blood and bloodstains
• Semen and seminal stain
• Saliva and buccal swab
• Hairs and follicles
• Tissues and cells
• Bones and organs

In addition, there are reports indicating that DNA has been isolated from urine samples with
nucleated cells; however, it is extremely rare to be able to obtain sufficient DNA to type from urine
samples.
Other types of biological evidences, such as tears, perspiration, serum and other body fluids
without nucleated cells are not amenable to DNA analysis. It should be kept in mind that NOT all
biological materials listed above in case work submitted to a forensic laboratory are in such a state
that DNA can be successfully extracted and analyzed.

When collecting any type of body fluid or tissue, the universal precaution for body fluids
should be taken. Wear gloves anytime these specimens are handled and additional protective
equipment when needed. All body fluids and tissues must be assumed to be infectious regardless of
the source.
• Collection and preservation of biological evidence
The ability to perform successful DNA analysis on biological evidence recovered from a crime
scene depends very much on what kind of specimen were collected and how they were prepared.
Thus the technique used to collect and document such evidence, the quantity and type of evidence
that should be packaged, and how DNA evidence should be preserved, are some of the critical points
for a forensic dna testing program. Unless the evidence is properly documented, collected, packaged
and preserved, it will not meet the legal and scientific requirements for admissibility into a court of
Law. If the DNA evidence is NOT properly documented prior to collection, its origin can be questioned.
If it is improperly packaged, cross-examination may occur.And if the DNA evidence is not properly
preserved, decomposition and deterioration may well occur. Any of these effects will seriously affect
the outcome of DNA typing.
• Guidelines for documentation of dna evidence
The initial stage in physical evidence examination encompass activities that take place at a
crime scene as well as the forensic laboratory. Documentation is important from two points of view in
forensic science: the legal one, and the scientific one. NOTHING SHOULD EVER BE ALTERED UNTIL ITS
ORIGINAL CONDITION and positions have been recorded. Several different means of documentation
are available. Generally, the use of more than one method is recommended. Every major piece of
evidence should be documented.
• COLLECTION of dna evidence at the crime scene
• DNA ANALYSIS
• DNA profiling or DNA Fingerprinting-
- it detects the presence of RFLPs ( Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism) in the DNA.
- This analysis requires 100 nanograms of high quality DNA for a successful determination.
- DNA analysis in forensic casework was first performed using this technique.
- In this approach, purified dna is first cut with certain restriction endonucleases and then run into an
aragose gel.

• The separated dna fragments are subsequently blotted in a membrane and exposed to
radioactivity-labeled probes specific for regions located between the restriction sites, which vary in
length within the population. The autobiography then reveals labeled restriction fragments, the
banding pattern of which is used for comparison between victim and suspect for comparison with
database.

The advent of PCR technology and its application to forensic science brought a new way of
examining biological evidence and has paved way for the other techniques:
• PCR amplification
• Typing of the HLA DQAO1
• 5 Polymarkers (PM) loci , which requires only 2 nanograms of DNA.
PCR analysis of biological evidence was first used in criminal case in the USA in 1986 and has
been used in a large number of court cases and has proved a reliable and widely accepted method for
the examination of human identity.

One of the most important developments in the field of human identity testing is the use of dna
typing to analyze biological evidence. In particular, the powerful PCR is used to analyze samples which
cannot be typed by other methods, such containing minute amounts of human DNA and very old and/or
degraded DNA.
• How dna analysis is done
• DNA TYPING is done first by carefully extracting the DNA from evidentiary samples. The DNA is
then analyzed to give a particular pattern. The patterns are compared with that of a known
individual to determine a match. In individual identification, the pattern obtained from the
evidentiary sample is compared with that of the suspect. If the patterns are different, the
evidentiary samples has not originated from the suspect.
If the DNA pattern of the evidentiary sample is similar to the sample obtained from the
suspect, the probability is that the evidentiary sample has come from the suspect and not from
random individual in population, and is calculated based from a formula of well accepted concepts of
statistical probabilities and and population genetics using an established population genetic database.