Increase Sensitivity of the HLADQa PCR System
Jeffrey Riolo and
Renee Romero
Washoe County Sheriffs Office, Reno, Nevada
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Systems or techniques that are capable of analyzing small amounts of evidence are very beneficial to the forensic science community. In this poster we present a "modification" to the HLADQa PCR system that enables greater sensitivity. We have shown that by "reamplifying" the first round of PCR, where a typeable product was unattainable, a HLADQa result can be obtained. Examination of forensic samples from muscle tissue, a wood bench, a towel and a wood board using the modified method gave typing results from samples that would have been deemed inconclusive or given no result. No amplified product was visible on an agarose gel from first round amplification of these samples. Re-amplification showed product and interpretable typing results.
We are not recommending this technique be used in casework examination but it may be useful in assessing whether DNA exists in a sample. This technique could be useful to the analyst in deciding whether to extract more of a stain or use a different extraction technique. This technique may also be useful in samples that contain inhibitors which influence the efficiency of the PCR reaction.
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