NCJ Number
224193
Journal
Forensic Magazine Volume: 5 Issue: 1 Dated: February/March 2008 Pages: 33-36
Date Published
March 2008
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article presents findings from an Australian comparative study on effective swab types in the recovery of trace DNA and for robotic forensic analysis.
Abstract
Results showed that hydrophobic mini-popules were highly effective swabbing devices for the recovery of trace DNA and that the mini-popules were compatible with robotic trace DNA extraction techniques. Unlike, cotton swabs, popules do not have to be dried to prevent bacterial degradation of the collected DNA. The popules were found to be an ideal trace DNA collection device. Popules are self-saturating, foam swabs produced by the Puritan Medial Products Company. Traditionally, cotton swabs have been used by forensic investigators for the collection of biological material, such as body fluids, found at crime scenes or on items submitted to forensic laboratories for more detailed examination. It is a double swabbing technique (wet and dry swabbing) commonly used to collect trace or contact DNA. In 2001, Forensic Science SA (FSSA), a forensic laboratory in Adelaide, South Australia observed that some cotton swab samples from good DNA sources were occasionally failing to generate expected DNA profiles. From this analysis, it was decided to try some new sampling options and test these against the traditional cotton collection swab. This article presents the results of the study. Exhibits and references