Current Methods for Body Fluid Identification Related to Sexual Crime: Focusing on Saliva, Semen, and Vaginal Fluid

Abstract

Although, DNA typing plays a decisive role in the identification of persons from blood and body fluid stains in criminal investigations, clarifying the origin of extracted DNA has also been considered an essential task in proving a criminal act. This review introduces the importance of developing precise methods for body fluid identification. Body fluid identification has long relied on enzymatic methods as a presumptive assay and histological or serological methods as a confirmatory assay. However, because the latest DNA typing methods can rapidly obtain results from very small and even old, poorly preserved samples, the development of a novel corresponding body fluid identification method is required. In particular, an immunochromatographic method has been introduced to identify saliva and semen from sexual crimes. In addition, for vaginal fluid identification, attempts have been made in the past decade to introduce a method relying on body fluid-specific mRNA expression levels. At present, the development of molecular biological methods involving microRNA, DNA methylation, and resident bacterial DNA is ongoing. Therefore, in criminal investigations, body fluid identification is an essential task for correctly applying the results of DNA typing, although further research and development are required.

On the Identification of Body Fluids and Tissues: A Crucial Link in the Investigation and Solution of Crime

“…Although easy to use, they are not human-specific and are largely presumptive in nature with many examples of false positive reactions reported. For reviews covering this area, see [69][70][71].…”

Forensic proteomics

“…The protein in evidentiary samples however is highly complex and contains significant amounts of information [6]. Some of this information may provide context about the tissue source of the material, or provide a genetic link to the donor of the material, and therefore be useful to investigators [7,8]. The protein population in a sample results from the transcriptional and translational programs and machinery of the originating cells and is a direct result of the sequence of nucleotides in open reading frames.…”

“…The protein population in a sample results from the transcriptional and translational programs and machinery of the originating cells and is a direct result of the sequence of nucleotides in open reading frames. Protein therefore can be used to identify the tissue or body fluid source of a sample, an important piece of forensic context that is still used today [7,8]. It also contains genetic information in the form of amino acid polymorphisms [9].…”

Enzyme Responsive Vaginal Microbicide Gels Containing Maraviroc and Tenofovir Microspheres Designed for Acid Phosphatase-Triggered Release for Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis of HIV-1: A Comparative Analysis of a Bigel and Thermosensitive Gel

“…Seminal fluid is a rich source of enzymes, such as prostatic acid phosphatase and hyaluronidase. Prostatic acid phosphatase is an enzyme constituent of the seminal fluid, usually released from the prostate gland; it is also used as a tool in forensic examination to determine the presence of semen in cases of rape or sexual abuse [ 8 , 9 ].…”