U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Quantitation of Human Genomic DNA Through Amplification of the Amelogenin Locus

NCJ Number
212918
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 51 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2006 Pages: 76-81
Author(s)
Robert W. Allen Ph.D.; Valerie Mattimore Fuller Ph.D.
Date Published
January 2006
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This study tested the effectiveness of quantitative template amplification technology (Q-TAT) as an alternate method for quantitating human genomic DNA.
Abstract
The study concluded that the Q-TAT assay for the quantitation of human genomic DNA is both sensitive and reproducible. It also enables a forensic DNA-typing lab to use existing technology and instrumentation to produce an accurate estimate of the amount of human genomic DNA recovered from biological evidence. The Q-TAT assay can provide an estimate of male and female DNA in a mixed sample from a sexual assault by plotting on the fluorescence under the Y amplicon with comparison with Y amplicon fluorescence in a standard curve prepared from male DNA. Q-TAT was found to be more sensitive than widely used slot-blot methods, but was somewhat less sensitive than real-time PCR. Q-TAT estimates the quantity of human DNA present in an extract by comparing fluorescence in X and Y amplicons produced from unknowns with fluorescence in a standard curve amplified from known quantities of reference DNA. It uses PCR and electrophoresis with fluorescent detection/quantitation, precluding the need for new instrumentation, methodology, or quality assurance associated with slot-blot or real-time PCR. This study used a comparison study that incorporated shared samples. 3 figures, 1 table, and 17 references