Role of Sugar as a Preservative for DNA Profiling from Foetal Tissues

Abstract

In forensic casework, the preservation of tissue is a major challenge. The products of Conception or foetuses are being sent to the forensic laboratory for the determination of paternity and maternity in sexual assault cases or POCSO cases. In most of the cases, a forensic expert is not able to extract DNA from such samples as formalin is used as a preservative. Most of the samples failed to detect foetal DNA from the tissues due to improper preservation. This study investigates the impact of sugar as a preservative on foetal tissue integrity and genomic DNA quality. The sugar inhibits microbial proliferation and autolytic degradation; in this study, we have taken the 50 samples of foetal tissues and preserved them in sugar solution at -20 0C for 4 months. DNA was extracted using magnetic-based Maxwell Automate extraction methods, followed by quantification, purity assessment, and STR amplification. It was observed that DNA remains intact in sugar and can yield a high amount of DNA with complete DNA profiling from such samples.