An Innovative Solution to Collect Touch DNA for Direct Amplification

Abstract

Touch DNA Profiling is a commonly used tool to link suspects to their crimes, but it is often challenging compared to other types of DNA evidence, such as blood and saliva, because it is usually found in minute quantities. Using direct amplification techniques to avoid sample extraction and quantification during the DNA profiling process can help preserve DNA loss. Therefore, this study explored an innovative solution to collect blood, saliva and Touch DNA using a cotton swab in combination with a microFLOQ® swab (CS+MF) for direct amplification to preserve the collected samples for re-analysis or additional testing. The allele recovery rate was 100% for blood and saliva samples, and 84% for trace samples, with a considerable difference in the average signal (RFU) between the evidence types (p < 0.001).

Keywords: Forensic science, Forensic genetics, Trace DNA, Touch DNA,DNA recovery, Cotton swab, Copan 150C, , MicroFLOQ™ swabs, DNA direct amplification, GlobalFiler™ PCR Amplification Kit