Incestuous paternity detected by STR-typing of chorionic villi isolated from archival formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded abortion material using laser microdissection.
Microscopic examination of a blood clot expelled by a physically and mentally disabled woman taken to the emergency room because of genital bleeding revealed the presence of chorionic villi encircled by decidua, hemorrhage, and necrosis. In order to identify the father of the product of conception, sections of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded abortion material were subjected to laser microdissection: DNA extraction from chorionic villi selectively isolated from the surrounding tissues allowed successful STR-typing of fetal cells, which was otherwise prevented by excess maternal DNA. The large number of homozygous genotypes in the fetal profile suggested incestuous paternity. Analysis of reference DNA samples from male relatives excluded the woman's father, paternal grandfather, and maternal grandfather, whereas the obligate paternal alleles of the fetus were constantly present in the genotypes of the woman's brother, clearly demonstrating brother-sister incest (probability of paternity > 99.99999%).
Robino
Carlo
C
Laboratory of Criminalistic Sciences, Department of Anatomy, Pharmacology and Legal Medicine, University of Turin, Turin, Italy. carlo.robino@unito.it
Barilaro
Maria Rosa
MR
Gino
Sarah
S
Chiarle
Roberto
R
Palestro
Giorgio
G
Torre
Carlo
C
D037881:Aborted Fetus / Q000166:cytology*; D000328:Adult; D002824:Chorionic Villi / Q000473:pathology*; D006233:Persons with Disabilities; D005260:Female; D005404:Fixatives; D005557:Formaldehyde; D006801:Humans; D007179:Incest; D007834:Lasers; D008297:Male; D042282:Microdissection / Q000379:methods*; D016612:Paraffin Embedding; D010334:Paternity; D012742:Sex Offenses; D020080:Tandem Repeat Sequences; D016707:Tissue Fixation
D005404:Fixatives; D005557:Formaldehyde