DNA methylation: the future of crime scene investigation?

Abstract

Proper detection and subsequent analysis of biological evidence is crucial for crime scene reconstruction. The number of different criminal acts is increasing rapidly. Therefore, forensic geneticists are constantly on the battlefield, trying hard to find solutions how to solve them. One of the essential defensive lines in the fight against the invasion of crime is relying on DNA methylation. In this review, the role of DNA methylation in body fluid identification and other DNA methylation applications are discussed. Among other applications of DNA methylation, age determination of the donor of biological evidence, analysis of the parent-of-origin specific DNA methylation markers at imprinted loci for parentage testing and personal identification, differentiation between monozygotic twins due to their different DNA methylation patterns, artificial DNA detection and analyses of DNA methylation patterns in the promoter regions of circadian clock genes are the most important ones. Nevertheless, there are still a lot of open chapters in DNA methylation research that need to be closed before its final implementation in routine forensic casework.

Dynamics of epigenetic phenomena: intergenerational and intragenerational phenotype ‘washout’

“…Within an individual, DNA methylation changes during embryonic development, maturation and aging/senescence (Ficz, 2015;Gabory et al, 2015;Rodríguez-Rodero et al, 2010;Smith and Meissner, 2013;van Otterdijk et al, 2013). Indeed, in some species, the relationship between CpG methylation and age is so tightly correlated as to lead to the concept of an 'epigenetic clock' based on 'DNA methylation age' (Gršković et al, 2013;Horvath, 2013;Teschendorff et al, 2013). Yet, these developmental changes do not follow universal patterns or even general trends.…”

Epigenetic Regulation of Circadian Rhythm and Its Possible Role in Diabetes Mellitus

“…There are methylation models of important circadian genes that determine at what time their expression peaks approximately. In determining the time of the death of a person, a methylation profile of selected CCGs would be found, which would correspond to the activity time of these CCGs [16,130].…”

Recent Advances in Forensic DNA Analysis

“…In particular, there are tissue-specific differential methylated regions (tDMRs) that occur in the genome of mammals. PCR methods that are methylation specific are able to identify body fluid identification and could possibly be multiplexed with existing STR typing protocols [74][75][76]. DNA methylation also has the potential to be used to help determine an estimated age [77].…”