Urine, a medium for positive human identification

Crenshaw, Steven K.

Urine, a medium for positive human identification

Issue Date

2006

Authors

Crenshaw, Steven K.

Abstract

Traditionally, DNA fingerprinting is confined to blood, semen, and tissues; but other sources of testable DNA exist. A body fluid often overlooked, and underestimated for its usefulness is human urine. In a series of experiments conducted by forensic and clinical research laboratories, scientists have demonstrated: 1) Eukaryotic urine (epithelial cells and leukocytes) cells can be isolated, DNA extracted, PCR amplified, and positive DNA fingerprinting performed on 10046 of samples tested. 2) Cell free DNA found in the bloodstream passes through the kidney filtration and can be isolated in human urine. 3) DNA found in human urine consist of two distinctive classes; a large species (greater than 1 Kb) which is cell associated, and a smaller species (between 150 to 250 bp) being mostly non-cell associated. 4) Urinary DNA is the only urine component useful for human identification. Collectively, these experiments demonstrate that DNA components found in human urine can be typed to provide positive human identification.

Keywords

Forensic sciences

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11803/4563

Collections

NU Masters and Dissertations (Restricted)

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