Assessing Single-Source Reproducibility of Human Head Hair Peptide Profiling from Different Regions of the Scalp.

Neither microscopical hair comparisons nor mitochondrial DNA sequencing alone, or together, constitutes a basis for personal identification. Due to these limitations, a complementary technique to compare questioned and known hair shafts was investigated. Recently, scientists from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's Forensic Science Center and other collaborators developed a peptide profiling technique, which can infer non-synonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) preserved in hair shaft proteins as single amino acid polymorphisms (SAPs).

Assessing protein sequencing in human single hair shafts of decreasing lengths.

Hair evidence is commonly found at crime scenes and is first analyzed using microscopy techniques. Hair can be processed for DNA analysis, but nuclear DNA analysis may result in a partial or no profile, and mitochondrial DNA analysis is less discriminatory. Single amino acid polymorphisms (SAPs) in hair shaft keratin proteins that result from non-synonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms (nsSNPs) in the genome are being studied as a method of supplementing microscopic comparison of questioned and known hair evidence.

A study of the intrinsic variability and the effect of environmental conditions on the formation of a postmortem root band.

A postmortem root band (PMRB) is defined as "an opaque ellipsoidal band composed of a collection of parallel elongated air/gas spaces and is approximately 0.5mm above the root bulb and about 2mm below the skin surface" [1]. It is generally accepted that it can appear in the root of hairs attached to remains during decomposition [1].

Protein extraction from human anagen head hairs 1-millimeter or less in total length.

A simple method for extracting protein from human anagen (i.e., actively growing hair stage) head hairs was developed in this study for cases of limited sample availability and/or studies of specific micro-features within a hair.

Isotopic and genetic analyses of a mass grave in central California: Implications for precontact hunter-gatherer warfare.

Objectives: Analysis of a mass burial of seven males at CA-ALA-554, a prehistoric site in the Amador Valley, CA, was undertaken to determine if the individuals were "locals" or "non-locals," and how they were genetically related to one another.

Methods: The study includes osteological, genetic (mtDNA), and stable (C, N, O, S) and radiogenic (Sr) isotope analyses of bone and tooth (first and third molars) samples.

Results: Isotopes in first molars, third molars, and bone show they spent the majority of their lives living together.