Studies of the allelic diversity in micro-satellite locus D16S539, F13B, FESFPS, TH01, and TROX in European population of Russia Ural region using capillary electrophoresis

Allelic frequencies of chromosome micro-satellite locuses D16S539, F13B, FESFPS, TH01 and TPOX were determined, within the case study, in a sampling of Europeoidal individuals residing in Russia's Ural Region. The allelic variants were analyzed by capillary electrophoresis after the enzyme amplification in polymerase chain reaction with fluorescent primers. The genotypic frequencies of the studied locuses were shown not to divert with statistical reliability from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The estimated aggregate discriminative potential for a panel of 5 studied locuses made 0.99995. No nonequilibrium was found by linkage between alleles of all lucuses examined within the present case study or between their alleles and the alleles of previously investigated locuses D7S820 and D13S317. The implemented testing of the population homogeneity of allelic frequencies of investigated locuses for 3 samplings of Europeoids showed a deviation for locus FESFPS versus the Ural and Polish samplings and for locus F13B in the Ural and North America samplings. The distribution of allelic frequencies of other locuses was homogenous in the compared samplings.     

Topical issues of organisation and implementation of forensic medical expertise

The shaped-up experience of management and implementation of expertise as applicable to civil and criminal cases and with respect to the requirements of new legislative acts was analyzed. Issues connected with composing a commission of experts, with the range of competence of forensic medical expert and of clinical practitioner, as well as with the content and form of the expert conclusions are under discussion.     

Genetic diversity in four tribal groups of western India: a survey of polymorphism in 15 STR loci and their application in human identification

Genetic diversity at 15 STR loci: 2 pentanucleotide and 13 tetranucleotide STR loci was determined in four highly endogamous tribal groups, viz. Madia-Gond, Mahadeo-Koli, Katkari and Pawara of western India. The distribution of genotypes at studied 15 loci was found in agreement with expected values according to Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The combined power of discrimination of 15 loci was calculated as 0.80 while combined power of exclusion was observed as 0.53 among the studied four tribal groups. The study demonstrate very low heterozygosity and low power of exclusion of the loci of Powerplex 16 among the selected groups indicating less informativeness of the studied markers in human identification testing.     

Haplotype diversity in mitochondrial DNA hypervariable regions I and II in three communities of Southern India

The sequence polymorphisms at the mtDNA hypervariable regions I and II (HVR-I and HVR-II) were analyzed in 87 individuals belonging to three religious groups, Hindu, Muslim and Christians of Karnataka (South India). A total of 122 polymorphic sites were observed in the sequenced regions, with HVR-I exhibiting higher variation than HVR-II. The populations exhibited high sequence and nucleotide diversity, alike other studied caste groups of Karnataka.     

Population genetic study of eight short tandem repeat loci CSF1PO,TPOX, TH01, F13A01, FESFPS,vWA, F13B and LPL in the Western Romanian population

Allele frequencies for eight tetranucleotide short tandem repeat (STR) loci-CSF1PO, TPOX, TH01, F13A01, FESFPS, vWA, F13B, LPL-were obtained from a population sample of 105-122 unrelated individuals born in Transylvania and Banat (Romania).     

Determination of heroin after embalmment

A 30-year-old male died in Thailand after a scuffle. The corpse was embalmed and repatriated to France where an autopsy was performed. As usual in cases of embalmment, fluids such as blood and urine were unavailable and the toxicological analyses was performed on the bile and the liver. An overdose of heroin was determined as the cause of death. A review of the literature indicates that several drugs can be detected in fluids and tissues that contain formaldehyde. This case demonstrates that in embalmed corpses, toxicological assessment is still possible, e.g. after heroin fatalities.     

"Ancient" protocols for the crime scene? Similarities and differences between forensic genetics and ancient DNA analysis

We provide a short overview on some current issues in the fields of forensic genetics and ancient DNA (aDNA) analysis. We discuss about the existence of the possible points of contact between the two disciplines, in terms of open problems and the inherent approach to their solution. We mainly focus on the problem of results authentication, its theoretical and technical aspects.