THE APPLICABILITY OF FORMALIN-FIXED AND FORMALIN-FIXED PARAFFIN-EMBEDDED TISSUES IN FORENSIC DNA ANALYSIS

Historically, formalin fixed (FF) tissues could not be used as a sourc e of DNA in forensic science due to the fact that the DNA was too degr aded for DNA analysis. With the introduction of the polymerase chain r eaction (PCR) technique to forensic science, the usefulness of DNA fro m this biological material has been re-evaluated. This study evaluates the potential use of DNA from FF and formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissues in 13 PCR systems; HLA DQ alpha, LDLR, GYPA, HBGG, D7S 8, GC, D1S80, vWA31, THO1, F13A1, FES/FPS, TPOX, and CSF1PO. The first six, HLA DQ alpha, LDLR, GYPA, HBGG, D7S8, and GC are reverse dot blo t systems, D1S80 is an amplified fragment length polymorphism (AmpFlp) system and the others are short tandem repeats (STRs). This study sho ws that FFPE tissue which has not been fixed in formalin for more than three days is a useful source of DNA for 12 of the 13 PCR systems. Ln contrast, FP:tissue did not prove to be a reliable source of DNA for the PCR techniques examined here.