title: The auditory ossicles as a DNA source for genetic identification of highly putrefied cadavers.
abstract: Genetic identification of putrefied bodies is a common task in forensic medicine. With advancing putrefaction, however, DNA integrity is rapidly decreasing and genetic typing of tissue might be impaired or impossible. Since DNA stability is generally higher in hard tissues, bones or teeth are frequently used as DNA source in such cases. However, isolation of DNA from hard tissues is usually very time-consuming and labor-intensive. This can be especially important in (forensic) cases where time is short and identification has to be carried out as fast as possible. Here, we present the identification of dead bodies by analyzing DNA from the auditory ossicles. These minuscule bones provided DNA of sufficient quality and quantity for identification purposes in all 40 investigated cases. Additionally, processing of the bones proved to be amazingly easy and fast, and a successful extraction is possible using a variety of different methods. We present a detailed protocol, results, and cases in which this new method has been successfully applied.
authors: Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Clinical-Forensic Imaging, Universitätsplatz 4/2, 8010, Graz, Austria, thorsten.schwark@cfi.lbg.ac.at.
authors: Thorsten
authors: T
authors: Schwark
authors: Jan-Hendrik
authors: JH
authors: Modrow
authors: Elena
authors: E
authors: Steinmeier
authors: Micaela
authors: M
authors: Poetsch
authors: Johannes
authors: J
authors: Hasse
authors: Hartmut
authors: H
authors: Fischer
authors: Nicole
authors: N
authors: von Wurmb-Schwark
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting / Q000379:methods*; D004429:Ear Ossicles / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D053803:Forensic Genetics; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats / Q000235:genetics; D008875:Middle Aged; D010375:Pedigree; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011180:Postmortem Changes; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D055815:Young Adult