NCJ Number
141727
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 38 Issue: 2 Dated: (March 1993) Pages: 239-249
Date Published
1993
Length
11 pages
Annotation
The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to amplify the HLA DQa gene using DNA recovered from evidentiary samples, including 206 known bloodstains, 26 questioned bloodstains, and 123 questioned semen-containing materials analyzed from 96 cases. These cases had been previously analyzed by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) typing by the FBI.
Abstract
The results showed that 98.5 percent of the known bloodstain samples yielded DQa typing results; 102 of the 149 (68 percent) questionable blood or semen-containing samples yielded similar results. Of the 78 cases that were RFLP inclusions, 59 yielded interpretable DQa results and these were all inclusions. The remaining cases could not be interpreted for the gene. Of the 18 RFLP exclusions, 11 were DQa exclusions, four were DQa inclusions, and three could not be determined. The authors note that employment of a human DNA quantification method in DQa casework would allow the user to use sufficient quantities of DNA for amplification and would also provide a guide for determining if a PCR inhibitor were present. They conclude that the findings from this study support the use of HLA DQa typing to analyze forensic samples. 2 tables, 1 figure, and 21 references