Assessment of DNA methylation markers for forensic applications

Richards, Rebecca; Patel, Jayshree; Stevenson, Kate; Harbison, SallyAnn

doi:10.1080/00450618.2019.1574898

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Eipel et al demonstrated that methylation of PDE4C (cg17861230) has a higher correlation to chronological age with saliva and buccal swabs than blood. While semen samples were detected mostly by NOX4 (cg06979108) then TTC7B (cg06304190) and cg12837463 with no gene associated (Lee et al 2015;Li et al 2017;Lee et al 2018;Richards et al 2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is a specific forensic marker in discriminating monozygotic twins by the differences of LINE-1 in interspersed repeat sequences (Xu et al 2015b). Buccal samples from 31 CpG sites from three loci in identical twins have demonstrated that at least one CpG site with DNA methylation was significantly different in all twin pairs (p < 0.05) and the highest number of significantly different CpG sites was six (Richards et al 2019). The sampling of reference subjects from monozygotic twin pairs is often favored for investigating environmental influences on age prediction Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Age estimation using DNA methylation technique in forensics: a systematic review

Maulani

Auerkari

2020

Egypt J Forensic Sci

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Background In addition to the DNA sequence, epigenetic markers have become substantial forensic tools during the last decade. Estimating the age of an individual from human biological remains may provide information for a forensic investigation. Age estimation in molecular strategies can be obtained by telomere length, mRNa mutation, or by sjTRECs but the accuracy is not sufficient in forensic practice because of high margin error. Main body One solution to this problem is to use DNA methylation methods. DNA methylation markers for tissue identification at age-associated CpG sites have been suggested as the most informative biomarkers for estimating the age of an unknown donor. This review aims to give an overview of DNA methylation profiling for estimating the age in cases of forensic relevance and the important aspects in determining the mean absolute deviation (MAD) or mean absolute error (MAE) of the estimated age. Online database searching was performed through PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar with keywords selected for forensic age estimation. Thirty-two studies were included in the review, with variable DNA samples but blood commonly as a source. Pyrosequencing and EpiTYPER were methods mostly used in DNA analysis. The MAD in the estimates from DNA methylation was about 3 to 5 years, which was better than other methods such as those based on telomere length or signal-joint T-cell receptor excision circles. The ELOVL2 gene was a commonly used DNA methylation marker in age estimation. Conclusion DNA methylation is a favorable candidate for estimating the age at the time of death in forensic profiling, with an uncertainty mean absolute deviation of about 3 to 5 years in the predicted age. The sample type, platform techniques used, and methods to construct age predictive models were important in determining the accuracy in mean absolute deviation or mean absolute error. The DNA methylation outcome suggests good potential to support conventional STR profiling in forensic cases.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Age estimation using DNA methylation technique in forensics: a systematic review

Maulani

Auerkari

2020

Egypt J Forensic Sci

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Analysis of Y-STR diversity and DNA methylation variation among Black and Indian males from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Shabalala

Ghai

Okpeku

2023

Forensic Science International

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Prediction of chronological age and its applications in forensic casework: methods, current practices, and future perspectives

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Kampmann

Morling

et al. 2023

Forensic Sciences Research

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Estimating an individual’s age can be relevant in several areas primarily related to the clinical and forensic fields. In the latter, estimation of an individual’s chronological age from biological material left by the perpetrator at a crime scene may provide helpful information for police investigation. Estimation of age is also beneficial in immigration cases, where age can affect the person’s protection status under the law, or in disaster victim identification to narrow the list of potential missing persons. In the last decade, research has focused on establishing new approaches for age prediction in the forensic field. From the first forensic age estimations based on morphological inspections of macroscopic changes in bone and teeth, the focus has shifted to molecular methods for age estimation. These methods allow the use of samples from human biological material that does not contain morphological age features and can, in theory, be investigated in traces containing only small amounts of biological material. Molecular methods involving DNA analyses are the primary choice and estimation of DNA methylation levels at specific sites in the genome is the most promising tool. This review aims to provide an overview of the status of forensic age prediction using molecular methods, with particular focus in DNA methylation. The frequent challenges that impact forensic age prediction model development will be addressed, together with the importance of validation efforts within the forensic community.

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Assessment of DNA methylation markers for forensic applications

Cited by 4 publications

References 6 publications

Age estimation using DNA methylation technique in forensics: a systematic review

Age estimation using DNA methylation technique in forensics: a systematic review

Analysis of Y-STR diversity and DNA methylation variation among Black and Indian males from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Prediction of chronological age and its applications in forensic casework: methods, current practices, and future perspectives

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