Retrieval of DNA from the faces of children aged 0–5 years: a technical note

Sabine Maguire, B. Ellaway, V. L. Bowyer, Eleanor Graham, Guy Rutty

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    11 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Approximately 21% of children suffer from some form of physical abuse. It is hypothesized that when an individual hits a child some of that person's DNA will be deposited onto the child's skin. As yet, no one has reported a method of sampling DNA from the skin of this vulnerable group of individuals. We have sampled DNA from several facial areas of 30 children aged 5 years of age and under. The results show that it is possible to swab the faces of this age group without distressing them or contaminating the samples. Additionally the results indicate that the DNA obtained is almost entirely that of the subject, with little nondonor DNA being observed.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)40-44
    JournalJournal of Forensic Nursing
    Volume4
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Apr 2008

    Keywords

    • forensic identification
    • DNA
    • children
    • swabbing
    • forensic nursing

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