Products of Partial Digestion with Hae III, Part 1. Characterization, Casework Experience and Confirmation of the Theory of Three-, Four-, and Five-Banded RFLP Pattern Origins Using Partial Digestion

• NCJ Number: 172008
• Journal: Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 42 Issue: 5 Dated: (September 1997) Pages: 850-863
• Author(s): E A Benzinger; E A Emerek; N Grigsby; D L Duewer; M L Lovekamp; H Deadman; J L Thompson; P J Sallee; A K Riech
• Date Published: 1997
• Length: 14 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority; Midwestern Assoc of Forensic Scientists, Inc
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Technical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article examines the causes of partial digestion and offers recommendations for interpreting forensic DNA evidence exhibiting partial digestion products.

Abstract

The study evaluated the sizes of Hae III partial digestion products at D1S7, D2S44, D4S139, D5S110, D10S28, and D17S26 in experimentally generated partial digestions of liquid blood DNA. The partial digestion products were highly predictable, suggesting a very high level of sequence conservation in regions flanking variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) blocks. Partial digestion bands associated with three-or-more-banded patterns were also characterized. Partial digestion of three-banded patterns can be used to determine whether the extra bands arise due to internal Hae III sites in the VNTR block and to identify hidden three-banded patterns. Partial digestion products from forensic casework also conformed to size expectations. Presumed partial digestion bands from 27 forensic samples were compared to the experimentally generated data. Figures, tables, references