P196 – Identifying Seminal Stains on Human Hair and Skin using STK(R) SpermTracker Skin

10:25

Thursday August 20^th

Station 08

Duration: 12 minutes

03. Human identification

Megan Foley

Collection of seminal fluid from skin and hair of survivors after a sexual assault will be based on case history, if known, and often consists of blind swabbing of the suspected area. While UV light can be used during examinations, it is non-specific and not often utilized. Presumptive identification of seminal fluid on human skin or hair in a non-invasive, quick, safe manner could increase the biological evidence obtained from a sexual assault case without adding additional stress on an already difficult process for the survivor/victim. STK(R) SpermTracker Skin was developed to locate seminal fluid on human hair and skin in this manner. The chemicals will react with components in seminal fluid to produce a visible color under UV light. This research evaluated STK(R) Skin on human hair and skin after different time intervals of semen deposition and tested several wash conditions. Neat semen was deposited on human skin or hair and followed one of three wash conditions: unwashed, rinsed with water, or scrubbed with water and soap. Samples (n=3 per condition pairing) were collected at time periods of 1 hr, 6 hrs, 12 hrs, 24 hrs, or 48 hrs after deposition. Traditional UV light procedures were compared to the STK(R) Skin protocol. An additional study was performed with 6 different hair colors (n=5) to determine whether shade and/or color affected visualization. Samples were collected for DNA analysis in order to assess whether genetic material can be collected after the different wash conditions and collection times. Samples were extracted using a differential QiaAMP DNA Investigator Kit method, quantified using QuantifilerTM Trio on QuantStudio 5 RealTime PCR System, amplified and genotyped using GlobalFilerTM Amplification Kit and 3500 Genetic Analyzer, and analyzed using GeneMapper IDX. Results indicated seminal fluid can be presumptively identified on skin and hair up to 48 hours, even after being washed. As expected, more negatives were seen after longer collection times and harsher washing conditions, but did not completely eliminate the chance of visualization and DNA profile generation (75%-100% alleles detected) in all sample replicates. Additionally, successful stain visualization was affected by different hair colors; stains on darker colored hair were easier to visualize. DNA analysis results showed that even if fluorescence was not observed, it is worth blind swabbing to attempt to collect seminal fluid.

Authors

Megan Foley (Hamline University/The George Washignton University, United States of America)
Sasha Cheng (The George Washington University, United States of America)
Alexis Reuling (The George Washington University, United States of America)
Samantha Kotowsky (The George Washington University, United States of America)
Fabio Oldoni (Arcadia University, United States of America)
Ya-Chih (Jessica) Cheng (The George Washington University, United States of America)
Daniele Podini (The George Washington University, United States of America)

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P196 – Identifying Seminal Stains on Human Hair and Skin using STK(R) SpermTracker Skin

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