A Swiss collaborative exercise for Disaster Victim Identification (DVI): Covering situations with different levels of complexity.

The identification of victims of a disaster (DVI) requires the collaboration of different specialists. Within a DVI context, DNA analyses often play an important role. Consequently, forensic genetic laboratories should be prepared to cope with DVI situations, as this can involve large-scale DNA profile comparisons.

Sampling touch DNA from human skin following skin-to-skin contact in mock assault scenarios-A comparison of nine collection methods.

Collection of touch DNA from an offender on the victim's skin can provide relevant evidence for investigations of criminal cases. Therefore, the choice of the optimal sample collection method is crucial. In this study, we investigated the recovery of STR profiles from touch DNA on human skin by comparing nine different collection methods: the dry and wet cotton swabs in three different movements, the double-swab (wet-dry) method, the wet and dry Copan FLOQSwabs™, and the Scene Safe FAST™ minitapes.

Persistence and detection of touch DNA and blood stain DNA on pig skin exposed to water.

As it is unclear if and how long DNA evidence can persist on submerged skin, we examined the potential for recovery of touch DNA and blood stain DNA from skin samples immersed in different aquatic environments and temperatures for forensic purposes in this proof-of-concept study. We used pig skin, either smeared with human blood or held firmly for 30 s by two test-persons, before immersing it in either cold, room-temperature or warm water as well as in a stream and a pond for up to seven days prior to DNA testing. The samples were then typed at 16 STR loci.

Ex vivo drug response profiling detects recurrent sensitivity patterns in drug-resistant acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Drug sensitivity and resistance testing on diagnostic leukemia samples should provide important functional information to guide actionable target and biomarker discovery. We provide proof of concept data by profiling 60 drugs on 68 acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) samples mostly from resistant disease in cocultures of bone marrow stromal cells. Patient-derived xenografts retained the original pattern of mutations found in the matched patient material.