Abstract
In recent years, forensic scientists showed that an individual’s genetic profile can
be retrieved from touched objects. Degraded DNA is believed to originate from epidermal
cells and to be responsible for this phenomenon, yet the mechanism has not been confirmed.
In the present study, we carried out a morphological and immunohistochemical investigation
of nuclear DNA in differentiating keratinocytes in the skin and also a genetic analysis
of DNA on swabs of human skin. Immunoelectron microscope analysis showed that single-stranded
DNA was found both in the cornified layer of the skin and in swabs. Real-time-PCR
assay proved that the DNA in the swabs was derived from the human DNA. Electron microscopic
analysis of shadow-cast showed the presence of small DNA fragments in the swabs. It
is conceivable that these DNA fragments on touched objects may originate from the
epidermal cells of the cornified layer that are constantly sloughed off and leave
for skin surface with sweat.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: October 13, 2008
Accepted:
September 2,
2008
Received in revised form:
September 1,
2008
Received:
October 26,
2007
Identification
Copyright
© 2008 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
