Quantitative color analysis of burned bone to predict DNA quantity, quality, and genotyping success.

Badly burned skeletal remains are commonly submitted to forensic laboratories for victim identification via DNA analysis methods. Burned skeletal remains present many challenges for DNA analysis as they can contain low amounts of DNA which can also be damaged and degraded, resulting in partial or no STR profiles. Therefore, a simple, but effective screening method that identifies which samples may provide the most successful STR or mtDNA typing results for identification would enable forensic laboratories to save time, money, and resources.

Bio-CaRGOS: capture and release gels for optimized storage of hemoglobin.

Room temperature biospecimen storage for prolonged periods is essential to eliminate energy consumption by ultra-low freezing or refrigeration-based storage techniques. State of the art practices that sufficiently minimize the direct or hidden costs associated with cold-chain logistics include ambient temperature storage of biospecimens (, DNA, RNA, proteins, lipids) in the dry state. However, the biospecimens are still well-exposed to the stress associated with drying and reconstitution cycles, which augments the pre-analytical degradation of biospecimens prior to their downstream processing.