Abstract
BackgroundFor various legal and forensic scenarios, establishing an individual’s age, both living and dead, plays a crucial role. Various morphological, radiographic, and molecular methods can be used for age estimation. In children and adolescents, age estimation is based on the established developmental stages. However, in adults, where the development ceases into maturation, the degenerative changes play a role in determining the age.Main body of the abstractIn the natural aging process, several molecular changes occur most commonly in the long-living proteins and hard tissues like the teeth and bone. These molecular changes gradually lead to alterations in several organs and organ systems, which can be quantified and correlated with age, including aspartic acid racemization, collagen crosslinks, advanced glycation-end products, and mitochondrial DNA mutations.Short conclusionAmong the above methods, the racemization of aspartic acid can be considered as the most precise method. The main advantage of using aspartic acid racemization is that the sample can be collected from tissues (teeth) protected from various environmental and nutritional factors. If all the confounding factors are stable, the utilization of advanced glycation-end products can also be considered valuable. Environmental factors like lead accumulations may also help determine the age. However, further studies need to be conducted, focusing on providing a more standardized method. This review provides a concise summary of the biochemical techniques that can be used for estimation of age.
Highlights
This review provides a concise summary of the biochemical techniques that can be used for estimation of age
Numerous methods have been proposed for age estimation for various legal, social, and forensic reasons, based on morphology, radiography, and biochemical changes
These molecular changes gradually lead to alterations in several organs and organ systems including the teeth and bone
Summary
An essential element of the forensic practice is to assign the exact age to both living individuals and human remains. Several molecular changes commonly occur in the long-living proteins. These molecular changes gradually lead to alterations in several organs and organ systems including the teeth and bone. Several such changes have been studied and identified over the years. Crosslinks, advanced glycation-end products, and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations are some of the most established methods of biochemical age estimation. The environmental factors, such as lead accumulation, may play a role in determining the age. The current narrative review describes the various biochemical methods, the methodology, advantages, and drawbacks concisely
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