Oliva Handt

• Forensic Science South Australia

Disposing of items of forensic relevance in bodies of water is one countermeasure offenders can use to avoid detection. The impact of immersion in water has been explored for blood, saliva, and semen; however, few studies have assessed touch DNA. Here we report on the effect of exposure to water on the persistence of touch DNA over prolonged period...

Bone cells are a suitable substrate for DNA analysis if required to identify the person from whom a sample was taken. Osteocytes, the most abundant cell type in bone, are embedded within mineralized bone matrix. To release DNA from osteocytes for subsequent analyses, either demineralization of the mineral matrix or an overnight incubation is routin...

ABTRACT Due to advances in DNA profiling sensitivity as well as the implementation of various types of software to analyse these profiles, forensic biologists can provide opinions about results generated from very low levels of template DNA. The ability to obtain DNA profiles from such ‘trace’ DNA brings into question the mechanisms of transfer whi...

Sexual assault cases are regularly encountered in forensic laboratories. The victim’s underwear and other clothes are often submitted with the intention of retrieving the offender’s DNA. We examined six sexual assault scenarios; removing underwear, removing brassiere, digital penetration of the vagina from the front, grabbing breasts over the top o...

We present here the derivation of paternity index formulae that covers situations of a disputed paternity trio with a trisomic product of conception. We consider six possible mechanisms for trisomy to occur: dispermy, dieggy, paternal meiosis I or II, and maternal meiosis I or II in the calculation. We also provide a biological explanation for how...

Fingermarks are a source of human identification both through the ridge patterns and DNA profiling. Typing nuclear STR DNA markers from previously enhanced fingermarks provides an alternative method of utilising the limited fingermark deposit that can be left behind during a criminal act. Dusting with fingerprint powders is a standard method used i...

Environmental factors and subsequent PCR inhibitors may affect the ability to retrieve DNA from handled objects. A poor quality DNA profile results from low DNA template or modifications imposed on the template (damage or degradation) prior to amplification. In this study, we show that direct PCR has the ability to amplify ‘touch’ DNA from uncleane...

DNA typing of a single hair using conventional DNA extraction processes can often result in no DNA profile but here we describe augmenting the direct-PCR approach resulting in an increased number of alleles being generated. The process includes the use of Prep-n-Go™ buffer prior to direct PCR using the recently released GlobalFiler® STR kit. Up-loa...

This study reports on the comparison of a standard extraction process with the direct PCR approach of processing low-level DNA swabs typical in forensic investigations. Varying concentrations of control DNA were deposited onto three commonly encountered substrates, brass, plastic, and glass, left to dry, and swabbed using premoistened DNA-free nylo...

The molecular basis for the cytogenetic appearance of chromosomal fragile sites is not yet understood. Late replication and further delay of replication at fragile sites expressing alleles has been observed for FRAXA, FRAXE and FRA3B fragile site loci. We analysed the timing of replication at the FRA10B and FRA16B loci to determine whether late rep...

A common mechanism for chromosomal fragile site genesis is not yet apparent. Folate-sensitive fragile sites are expanded p(CCG)n repeats that arise from longer normal alleles. Distamycin A or bromodeoxyuridine-inducible fragile site FRA16B is an expanded AT-rich approximately 33 bp repeat; however, the relationship between normal and fragile site a...

Sequencing of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) has been used for human identification based on teeth and skeletal remains. Here, we describe an amplification system for the mtDNA control region (D-loop) suited for the analysis of shed hair, which constitutes the most common biological evidence material in forensic investigations. The success rate was over...

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This paper describes the organisation of a database for human mitochondrial control-region sequences. The data are divided into three ASCII files that contain aligned sequences from the hypervariable region I (HVRI), from the hypervariable region II (HVRII), and the available information about the individuals, from whom the sequences stem. The curr...

DNA was extracted from approximately 600-year-old human remains found at an archaeological site in the southwestern United States, and mtDNA fragments were amplified by PCR. When these fragments were sequenced directly, multiple sequences seemed to be present. From three representative individuals, DNA fragments of different lengths were quantified...

An approximately 5000-year-old mummified human body was recently found in the Tyrolean Alps. The DNA from tissue samples of this Late Neolithic individual, the so-called "Ice Man," has been extracted and analyzed. The number of DNA molecules surviving in the tissue was on the order of 10 genome equivalents per gram of tissue, which meant the only m...

The study of ancient DNA offers the possibility of following genetic change over time. However, the field is plagued by a problem which is unique in molecular biology--the difficulty of verifying results by reproduction. Some of the reasons for this are technical and derive from the low copy number and damaged state of ancient DNA molecules. Other...

Evolutionists are driven by a desire to find out when and how past populations and species lived and how they were related to each other. Morphologically inclined evolutionists can satisfy this desire by studying fossils. Molecular evolutionists on the other hand, who tend to get the most satisfaction out of nucleic acid sequences, have access only...

Using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, steady-state levels of parathyroid hormone (PTH) mRNA were investigated in a number of human, bovine and rat tissues. Transcripts were consistently detected in parathyroid glands as well as in lymphocytes, lymphoblastoid cells and several tumours. Levels of transcription were not measurably inc...

Through reverse transcription of mRNA and subsequent PCR (RT-PCR) it has become possible to analyse rare transcripts directly without prior cloning procedures. We have sequenced the Parathyroid Hormone (PTH)-gene locus and synthesized cDNA specific PCR-primers. With these primers we amplified a PTH cDNA from normal parathyroid gland total RNA. The...