Quantification of mRNA degradation as possible indicator of postmortem interval--a pilot study.

Postmortem RNA degradation is a complex process which has not been studied systematically up to now. RNA, in contrast to DNA, is degraded in vivo to control translation and is believed to be less stable than DNA in vitro and postmortem due to ubiquitously present ribonucleases. Quantification of the fragmentation level of human mRNA might be a tool for determination for the time since death.