Research Progress on the Application of Human Body Surface Microbiome to Forensic Individual Identification.

Skin and hair are the outermost interfaces between the human body and the external environment with many microorganisms distributed. These body surface microorganisms have individual specificity and spatial temporal stability and can be transferred to the surface of other objects through contact, and can be easily found at the crime scene, which helps to construct the connection between the suspect and the crime scene. When the sample is degraded or the DNA quantity is too low to obtain sufficient human DNA evidence, the highly amplified copies of body surface microbiome analysis can be used as an adjunct to human DNA typing without affecting DNA extraction and typing, and provide useful information for narrowing the range of suspects.

Identification of Mixtures of Two Types of Body Fluids Using the Multiplex Methylation System and Random Forest Models.

Objective: Body fluid mixtures are complex biological samples that frequently occur in crime scenes, and can provide important clues for criminal case analysis. DNA methylation assay has been applied in the identification of human body fluids, and has exhibited excellent performance in predicting single-source body fluids. The present study aims to develop a methylation SNaPshot multiplex system for body fluid identification, and accurately predict the mixture samples.

Analysis of the Yp11.2 Deletion Region of Phenotypically Normal Males with an -Null Allele in the Chinese Han Population.

The amelogenin gene is a widely used gender marker for forensic DNA profiling. Males who have the amelogenin Y () allele deletion can be mistakenly identified as females if genotyping is performed only on the amelogenin gene. The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency of the allele deletion in the Chinese Han population and analyze the possible genetic variation on the Y chromosome.

Multistep microsatellite mutation leading to father-child mismatch of FGA locus in a case of non-exclusion parentage.

A non-exclusion paternity case with a mismatch in the autosomal short tandem repeats (STR) locus FGA is reported. The genotypes of the suspected father, the mother and the questioned child in FGA locus were 18/25, 20/26 and 20/22, respectively. Examination of 38 autosomal STR loci revealed no mismatches, and the paternity index is up to 1.

Development of a 9-locus X-STR multiplex PCR system for genetic analysis of three ethnic populations in China.

X-chromosome short tandem repeats (X-STR) analysis has been confirmed to be effective for kinship testing such as in deficiency paternity cases. The aim of this study was to develop a new multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) system that can simultaneously amplify 9 X-STR loci (GATA172D05, DXS10159, DXS6797, HPRTB, DXS10079, DXS6789, DXS9895, DXS10146 and GATA31E08) in the same PCR reaction, and to obtain the database of the 9 X-STR loci in three ethnic populations in China. The genetic data of 815 (404 females and 411 males) unrelated Han Chinese from Hubei province, and Yi and Zhuang Chinese from Yunnan province were analyzed by using this multiplex system.

Multistep microsatellite mutation in a case of non-exclusion parentage.

A non-exclusion paternity with multistep mutation in the locus D5S818 was reported. Examination of 39 autosomal short tandem repeats (STR) loci revealed a mismatch of the maternally or paternally transmitted allele in the locus D5S818 in the questioned child. The composition of the alleles of this locus in the mother, the questioned child and the alleged father are 11/13, 7/13 and 13, respectively.

Age-related DNA methylation changes for forensic age-prediction.

There is no available method of age-prediction for biological samples. The accumulating evidences indicate that DNA methylation patterns change with age. Aging resembles a developmentally regulated process that is tightly controlled by specific epigenetic modifications and age-associated methylation changes exist in human genome.

Isolation and identification of age-related DNA methylation markers for forensic age-prediction.

Age-prediction is an important part of forensic science. There is no available method of individual age-prediction for general forensic biological samples at crime scenes. Accumulating evidence indicates that aging resembles a developmentally regulated process tightly controlled by specific age-associated methylation exists in human genome.

Contraction band necrosis in two ecstasy abusers: a latent lethal lesion associated with ecstasy.

Cardiotoxicity associated with ecstasy has been reported in recent years but is very rare. We described 2 lethal cases associated with Ecstasy use. One whole tablet of ecstasy in one case and a half-tablet ecstasy in another case led to lethal effect, but death was not simply attributed to a lethal intoxication.

Myocardial lesions after long-term administration of methamphetamine in rats.

Objective: To demonstrate the myocardial lesion associated with long-term administration of methamphetamine in rats.

Methods: The experimental models of intoxication of methamphetamine were established in Sprague-Dawley rats. Methamphetamine hydrochloride (3 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1)) was subcutaneously injected to rats in methamphetamine-treated group (n = 16), and normal saline at the same dose was injected to rats in control group (n = 16).