The ability to generate deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) profiles from genetic material is a powerful tool commonly used by forensic scientists. The first major step of this process is the collection of DNA from a crime scene. DNA may be deposited in many ways, including in biological fluids and by touch DNA deposition. Techniques such as swabbing are commonly used, but often pose problems when used on rough, porous surfaces. The M-Vac® is a wet-vacuum designed to spray and recollect a buffer solution from a surface to allow for the collection of DNA from these porous objects.
Dilute saliva samples and touch DNA via handling were deposited on assorted items and collected using both traditional swabbing and wet vacuum methods. Further, M-Vac® filters containing collected material were extracted using the EZ1 Biorobot either in a single tube or divided into approximately quarters and extracted in four separate tubes to assess DNA yields from both methods. The M-Vac® was shown to collect equal or greater amounts of DNA compared to swabbing from various porous surfaces, and the samples collected with the M-Vac® were shown to produce more complete DNA profiles. Use of the M-Vac® on surfaces following swab collection resulted in the recovery of additional DNA, often exceeding the amount initially recovered from the swab. It was also observed that in nearly all profiles generated from touch DNA sources, alleles were detected that originated from a non-donor source. In some cases, extraction from filters in quarters resulted in a higher total amount of DNA than whole filters when all four quarters were added together. However, quarters from a single filter had a high amount of variation in the level of DNA, indicating that the DNA may not be distributed evenly on the filter.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bu.edu/oai:open.bu.edu:2144/45555 |
| Date | 01 February 2023 |
| Creators | Glater, Moss Samuel |
| Contributors | Brodeur, Amy N. |
| Source Sets | Boston University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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