Abstract
Flip-open style cell phones were investigated for the potential to produce quality genetic profiles that could be used in forensic casework. Swabs were taken of the outside/back and the inside ear speaker of ten flip-phones on two occasions – prior to and seven days after cleaning with 95% ethanol. Buccal swabs were collected as exemplars. The samples were amplified using the AmpFlSTR ProfilerPlus PCR Kit for 35 cycles and STR profiles were generated using an ABI Prism 310 Genetic Analyzer and GeneMapper ID analysis software v3.2. The phone profiles were compared to the references and to each other, to assess the quality of the profiles. The completeness of the profiles varied greatly, even within an experimental condition. There was no significant difference in the percentage correct alleles or in the number of drop-in alleles in the DNA profiles for the outside/inside locations or for the pre/post-cleaning times. The findings of this study demonstrate the need for collecting multiple samples from discrete locations on a cell phone if such evidence is encountered in forensic cases.
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