A more sensitive method for the quantitation of genomic DNA by Alu amplification

Current procedures for human DNA quantitation reach their limit at 150 pg DNA, which is above the limit of the PCR profiling range using Profiler-Plus (Applied Biosystems, CA). This study tested the potential for the use of primate specific Alu sequences in forensic science for the sensitive detection and quantitaion of DNA. A fluorescently labelled primer pair was designed enabling high efficiency amplification of the core Alu sequence within primate DNA. Quantitation was performed by measurement of fluorescence intensity and comparison to a series of standard template DNA amounts via the construction of a standard curve. The new Alu-based quantitation protocol developed has shown its feasibility in more sensitively quantitating (100-2.5 pg) unknown amounts of human DNA for forensic use. The method is compatible with the use and throughput of current forensic procedures.