Abstract:Bone exposure to heat in the presence of moisture breaks the phosphodiester bonds of the backbone, leaving sheared DNA in bone cells. This also limits the possibility of generating a complete profile of the victim. With the increasing incidence of fire outbreaks over the past few years, a paradigm shift to establish identity has been observed, from morphological identification of victims to STR profiling. For this study, 10 bone samples were taken from burnt human bodies that were recovered from different fire… Show more
“…A proteomic high performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry approach (employing a new informatics method for species identification 3 ) was used to evaluate the disks as proteins: encode genetic information, are more stable than DNA to environmental insult, and have been found further back in the geological record (> 1,000,000 years) 4 – 7 . Proteins and DNA have previously been detected in burned bone 8 – 10 but not, to our knowledge, in crematorium retort cremains. Figure 1 Images of disks analyzed by the NYC OCME.…”
Museums displaying artifacts of the human struggle against oppression are often caught in their own internal struggle between presenting factual and unbiased descriptions of their collections, or relying on testament of survivors. Often this quandary is resolved in favor of what can be verified, not what is remembered. However, with improving instrumentation, methods and informatic approaches, science can help uncover evidence able to reconcile memory and facts. Following World War II, thousands of small, cement-like disks with numbers impressed on one side were found at concentration camps throughout Europe. Survivors claimed these disks were made of human cremains; museums erred on the side of caution—without documentation of the claims, was it justifiable to present them as fact? The ability to detect species relevant biological material in these disks could help resolve this question. Proteomic mass spectrometry of five disks revealed all contained proteins, including collagens and hemoglobins, suggesting they were made, at least in part, of animal remains. A new protein/informatics approach to species identification showed that while human was not always identified as the top contributor, human was the most likely explanation for one disk. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of protein recovery from cremains. Data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD035267.
“…A proteomic high performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry approach (employing a new informatics method for species identification 3 ) was used to evaluate the disks as proteins: encode genetic information, are more stable than DNA to environmental insult, and have been found further back in the geological record (> 1,000,000 years) 4 – 7 . Proteins and DNA have previously been detected in burned bone 8 – 10 but not, to our knowledge, in crematorium retort cremains. Figure 1 Images of disks analyzed by the NYC OCME.…”
Museums displaying artifacts of the human struggle against oppression are often caught in their own internal struggle between presenting factual and unbiased descriptions of their collections, or relying on testament of survivors. Often this quandary is resolved in favor of what can be verified, not what is remembered. However, with improving instrumentation, methods and informatic approaches, science can help uncover evidence able to reconcile memory and facts. Following World War II, thousands of small, cement-like disks with numbers impressed on one side were found at concentration camps throughout Europe. Survivors claimed these disks were made of human cremains; museums erred on the side of caution—without documentation of the claims, was it justifiable to present them as fact? The ability to detect species relevant biological material in these disks could help resolve this question. Proteomic mass spectrometry of five disks revealed all contained proteins, including collagens and hemoglobins, suggesting they were made, at least in part, of animal remains. A new protein/informatics approach to species identification showed that while human was not always identified as the top contributor, human was the most likely explanation for one disk. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of protein recovery from cremains. Data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD035267.
“…Extraction workflows often begin with demineralization of the bone powder during an incubation with EDTA [13][14][15] followed by cellular disruption with proteinase K/SDS digestion or high concentrations of chaotropic salt [4,[8][9][10][11][12][13] and gDNA was generally recovered by binding to silica [12,13].…”
An archive of 5 years of cases involving the identification of human remains was curated, collecting information on: The sample type submitted, the number of STR loci yielding interpretable results, the kinship challenge posed, and the outcome for the case. A total of 129 cases of remains ID were investigated using manual DNA extraction and recovery methods with amplification of STR markers using the Power Plex 21 multiplex STR kit from Promega Corp. In 52 cases, blood spots collected by the ME were provided as sample and in 100% of those cases, probabilities of relatedness to the reference samples was ≥99%. In 77 cases, tissue other than blood was provided as a source of DNA. These other samples were grouped categorically into long bones (femur and tibia; 40 cases), skull bones/teeth (11 cases), other bones (16 cases), and tissue (normally adherent to bone) (10 cases). Reference samples provided for cases included alleged parents or child(ren) of the victim (86 cases), alleged full siblings of the victim (38 cases), or alleged second‐order relatives (five cases). The overall success rate in confirming the identity of the source of the remains in these cases was 89.2%. Our results demonstrate that a laboratory can be often successful identifying human remains using methods easily implemented in any DNA typing laboratory.
“…There have been advances in DNA extraction and purification, with the goal of improving DNA recovery and decreasing damage and inhibitors [32][33][34]. Several studies compared different kinds of more frequently used extraction methods [35][36][37] and found that total demineralization has the highest efficiency when performing extraction from highly degraded human remains. Other investigations examined how the DNA extraction process can be optimized by newly developed commercial DNA kits with improved sensitivity [38] and other technologies such as acoustic energy [39].…”
Anthropological analysis of fragmentary evidence can be challenging but diverse methods allow substantial information to be gleaned. Scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy enables determination if bone and/or tooth tissue is present. Protein radioimmunoassay or DNA analysis can establish the species present. Histological analysis can assist in species determination and reveal information about thermal changes. Radiocarbon analysis with special reference to the modern bomb-curve can clarify the postmortem interval. Anthropologists should also be aware that DNA analysis not only can enable positive identification but assist in the evaluation of sex and age at death.
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