Comparative Study of Two Methods of DNA Extraction from Dental Pieces

Abstract

Colombia is a country with an internal armed conflict of more than 60 years, where forensic sciences claim a vital role in strengthening transitional justice within the framework of the peace process. Just look at the statistics of unidentified bodies, to realize how far behind the identification process is in Colombia; where according to Life application: There are some 26,660 to 35476 unidentified bodies that, despite the joint efforts of agencies such as the Missing Persons Search Unit, Forensic Medicine and the Attorney General’s Office, have not yet been handed over to their relatives. For this reason, it is necessary to recognize the massive task of forensic specialists to propose new methods that optimize the identification process. Responding to this call, the IdentiGEN Laboratory compared two methods of extracting DNA from teeth, the ChargeSwitch Forensic DNA Purification Kit (Invitrogen) and the QIAamp DNA Mini Kit (Qiagen) to determine which of the two allowed optimization, not only the time of analysis but the costs of application with respect to the conventional method used for these matrices. To do this, DNA extraction was performed with each kit and subsequently extracts were quantified by fluorometry, demonstrating that although both methods are highly efficient in time and cost; the QIAamp method DNA Mini Kit (Qiagen) has a higher yield in terms of the amount of genetic material obtained. Finally, the dental parts analyzed using the PowerPlex Fusion System (Promega) commercial kit were successfully typified, showing not only that these matrices present a viable source of DNA collection but that it is possible to continue improving extraction methods so that they are increasingly simple, economical and effective.