Dental color measurement to predict DNA concentration in incinerated teeth for human identification
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David A Lightfoot, College of Agricultural Sciences, UNITED STATES
Date
2018Referencia bibliográfica
Rubio L, Sioli JM, GaitaÂn MJ, Martin-de- las-Heras S (2018) Dental color measurement to predict DNA concentration in incinerated teeth for human identification. PLoS ONE 13(4): e0196305.. [http://hdl.handle.net/10481/54623]
Sponsorship
This work was supported by the University of Malaga (PPIT.UMA.B1.2017/24). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Abstract
Abstract
Teeth exposed to thermal stress can shed light on the identification of incinerated individuals
and on the circumstances of the fire. Changes in the color of burned teeth can provide information
on structural changes and the temperature of exposure. The objective of this study was to
correlate color modifications with the concentration of human DNA in teeth burned at different
temperatures. Spectrophotometry was used to measure the color of 40 teeth heated at temperatures
of 100, 200, and 400ÊC for 60 min. DNA was extracted by phenol-chloroform extraction
and quantified by real-time quantitative PCR using the Quantifier human DNA quantification
kit. Preliminary results indicated an association of higher temperature with changes in colorimetric
variables and a decrease in DNA concentrations. A significant positive correlation was
found between luminosity values and DNA concentration (r = 0.4727, p = 0.0128) and between
chromaticity a* values and DNA concentration (r = 0.4154, p = 0.0250). Spectrophotometry
analysis of the color of burned teeth may predict the feasibility of extracting human DNA for
identification purposes.