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Collection techniques of touch DNA deposited on human skin following a strangulation scenario

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Abstract

Trace DNA is a significant type of evidence for its ability to be collected from touched items or surfaces at crime scenes to link suspects to their crimes. In cases of violent crimes like assault, sexual offences, or even homicide, often touch DNA is collected from the victim’s skin. However, the collection of touch DNA from the victim’s skin can be complex because of the mixture of DNA present, as there is likely to be a small quantity of the offender’s DNA compared to the victim’s DNA. Validating different collection methods or techniques can improve touch DNA sampling; therefore, this study investigated three collection techniques involving cotton and nylon swabs to test their efficiency for the collection of touch DNA from the human neck. There was a significant difference between the three recovery techniques used to recover touch DNA with a cotton swab (CS) (p < 0.05) and nylon swab (NS) (p < 0.05), with more alleles observed when the neck skin was moistened with 100 μL of distilled water using a spray bottle before collection with both swabs.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK

    Salem K. Alketbi

  2. General Department of Forensic Science and Criminology, Dubai Police, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    Salem K. Alketbi

Authors
  1. Salem K. Alketbi
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Correspondence to Salem K. Alketbi.

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Ethical approval

This study was approved by the General Department of Forensic Science and Criminology in Dubai Police and ethical approval was granted by the School of Forensic and Applied Sciences, and the University of Central Lancashire’s Research Ethics Committee (ref. no. STEMH 912).

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Research involving human participants and/or animals

Not applicable.

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The author declares no competing interests.

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Key Points

• In scenarios of vicious crimes like assault, sexual offences, or even homicide, trace DNA can be recovered from the skin of the victim.

• This study investigated three collection techniques involving cotton and nylon swabs to examine their efficiency for the collection of trace DNA from the human neck following a strangulation scenario.

• There was a significant difference between the three recovery techniques used to recover touch DNA with a cotton swab (p < 0.05) and nylon swab (p < 0.05), with more alleles observed when the neck skin was moistened with 100 μL of distilled water using a spray bottle before collection for both swabs.

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Alketbi, S.K. Collection techniques of touch DNA deposited on human skin following a strangulation scenario. Int J Legal Med 137, 1347–1352 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-023-03036-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-023-03036-8

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