NCJ Number
216388
Journal
Canadian Society of Forensic Science Journal Volume: 39 Issue: 3 Dated: September 2006 Pages: 81-100
Date Published
September 2006
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This article reports on the development of a new luminol mixture called BlueStar, which was found to provide more luminescence than traditional blood reagents for remnants of bloodstains after their attempted removal by washing, without having adverse effects on the DNA typing of the blood.
Abstract
Whether or not the surface where the bloodstain was deposited was porous, BlueStar provided luminescence for diluted bloodstains up to 1:1,000 concentration in a cleaning solution (sterile water) without compromising efforts to conduct DNA typing for the blood. DNA typing is possible with blood dilutions from 1:250 to 1:500. The blood's reaction with BlueStar can be observed under dim conditions in the form of a short yet renewable blue chemiluminescence that is longer and stronger than the traditional Grodsky formula-based commercial kit for revealing the presence of blood. The reagents used in the experiment are described. The descriptions of the instrumentation and procedure for chemiluminescence measurements address light measurements for the optimization of the reaction conditions, light measurements using commercial bloodstain chemiluminescent detection kits, and the performance for the BlueStar bloodstain detection kit and comparison with a commercial luminol solution. The description of instrumentation and procedure for DNA typing encompasses DNA extraction and quantification and STR amplification and DNA typing. Also addressed in this article are the choice of the oxidizing agent, the choice of the alkaline solution and pH, BlueStar preparation, micro volumes sampling and detection with BlueStar and genotyping, and testing on various types of support materials. 2 tables, 7 figures, and 19 references