YOU wouldn't expect forensic teams to waste valuable evidence. But it happens all the time, though perhaps not for much longer.
Standard DNA profiling grabs DNA from inside cells, copies it many times, and then looks for unique sequences to compare with those of a suspect. But much DNA is lost in the extraction, so tiny samples are often unusable.
Now, Adrian Linacre of Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia, and his colleagues have targeted "free" DNA – the stuff floating loose in material such as sweat and hair – in trace samples, copying it directly using a standard lab kit, bypassing the extraction step altogether.
The team is the first to reliably get full profiles from single hairs (Forensic Science, Medicine, and Pathology, doi.org/nq2). They also got a profile from sweat left after touching fabric for just 15 seconds.
This article appeared in print under the headline "Single hair reveals crime-scene DNA"
- New Scientist
- Not just a website!
- Subscribe to New Scientist and get:
- New Scientist magazine delivered every week
- Unlimited online access to articles from over 500 back issues
- Subscribe Now and Save
If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to.
Have your say
Only subscribers may leave comments on this article. Please log in.
Only personal subscribers may leave comments on this article
All comments should respect the New Scientist House Rules. If you think a particular comment breaks these rules then please use the "Report" link in that comment to report it to us.
If you are having a technical problem posting a comment, please contact technical support.
