Shedder status: Does it really exist?

Abstract

The concept of shedder status is not new, and studies have been conducted by multiple groups but with varying results. Hence, to investigate the validity of the shedder status concept, a total of 486 touch DNA samples were collected from 81 individuals to examine DNA recovery 15 min post-handwashing. We defined the shedder status of participants using the dual requirement of number of self-alleles detected and the frequency of occurrence. While some participants had consistently high or low allele deposition, other participants showed great intra-person variation. Significant differences in the number of self-alleles were also observed between genders, and for the activities of self-contact and mobile phone usage.