RNA for Body Fluid Identification in Forensics.

Lee, Hwan Young; Shin, Kyoung Jin; Yang, Woo Ick

Review article

Korean Journal of Legal Medicine 2009;33(1):84-88.
Published online May 31, 2009.

RNA for Body Fluid Identification in Forensics.

Hwan Young Lee, Kyoung Jin Shin, Woo Ick Yang

¹Department of Forensic Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. wiyang9660@yuhs.ac
²Human Identification Research Center, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea.

Abstract

Lately, there seems to be a growing interest in the forensic community for RNA analysis. Especially, body fluid identification using cell-specific RNA expression profiles is expected to present a new technique that will supplement DNA analysis in forensic casework. Several RNA markers specific to blood, saliva, semen, menstrual blood and vaginal secretions have been identified and their specificities and sensitivities have been confirmed using various forensic samples. Therefore, this review provides an overview of the present knowledge and the most recent developments in RNA analysis for the body fluid identification and discusses its possible and practical use in forensics.

Key Words: RNA, Body fluid identification, mRNA, microRNA