Citation

Henry J, Scandrett L. Sci. Justice 2019; 59(5): 480-485.

Affiliation

Forensic Science SA, GPO Box 2790, Adelaide, South Australia 5001, Australia. Electronic address: lenara.scandrett@sa.gov.au.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Forensic Science Society, Publisher Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.scijus.2019.05.001

PMID

31472792

Abstract

The ability to detect male epithelial cells deposited during digital penetration or penile penetration without ejaculation is limited by the sensitivity of the Y-STR profiling kit. In this study, the relative profiling success of the Thermofisher Yfiler® Plus kit was compared to its predecessor, AmpFlSTR Yfiler®, for 104 semen-negative sexual assault samples from casework at Forensic Science SA, Adelaide, South Australia. Yfiler Plus generated allele information in 25% more samples than Yfiler and gave a higher recovery of informative alleles in all but two samples where detectable male DNA was present. Where a profile was obtained in both kits, 92% of samples gave a higher percentage of informative loci with Yfiler Plus compared to Yfiler. Yfiler Plus also resolved DNA mixtures in 15 samples as compared to 1 sample with Yfiler. Detection of male DNA with the Quantifiler™ Trio DNA Quantification kit was shown to correlate with a successful profiling outcome with Yfiler Plus. The success of profiling with Yfiler Plus was independent of the time elapsed between the alleged offence and the sample being collected, the type of sexual penetration which occurred, and the anatomical origin of the sample.

Copyright © 2019 The Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Digital penetration; No semen; Semen-negative; Sexual assault; Y-STR; Yfiler Plus