Factors Affecting DNA Yields from Serum and Plasma Samples Used for Personal Identification Testing
Korean J Leg Med 2016;40:78-82

Department of Forensic Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea,

Institute of Forensic Science, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

sdlee@snu.ac.kr

Serum or plasma is free of cellular components. As DNA is in the nucleus or mitochondria of a cell, it can be presumed that serum/plasma is DNA free. However, there are cases wherein serum/plasma is the only resource available for identification analysis, yet no sufficient data are available regarding whether reliable DNA testing can be applied to such cases, and what the influencing factors are when testing is a valid course of action. The aim of this study is to illustrate the factors that can be used in the genetic testing of serum/plasma when identifying an individual. The results showed that the concentration of serum DNA significantly increased over time in 4°C storage, and the DNA yields from samples stored in heparin tubes were overall higher than from samples stored in ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid tubes. We observed that the concentration of DNA in serum successfully matched 100% to the short tandem repeat data of blood DNA.

Key Words: Serum; Plasma; DNA fingerprinting; Identification