Doing more with less: novel techniques for DNA analysis in bombings and terrorism.

Purpose and goal

Terrorist attacks involving bomb blasts are a major threat to the security of our society and a possible link to the manufacturer is highly important. Today, DNA analysis is successful on most types of biological material, but small amounts of cell material on bomb parts is, nevertheless, a major challenge. In this project, several strategies and methods have been optimized to achieve an increased sensitivity. When the methods that have been optimized within the study are used, an increased number of DNA-profiles for challenging samples are seen.

Results and expected effects

The project has contributed with knowledge that will lead to improved DNA analysis from contact traces, as small amounts of DNA on bomb parts after terrorist attacks. By choosing optimal sampling, extraction method and an efficient enzyme, increased sensitivity is seen. Traces with trace amounts of DNA and also degraded DNA as well as samples with inhibitors can now be analyzed successfully. An expected future effect is that the law enforcement will get better tools for solving cases with explosions, which in turn results in increased prosecution and a high legal security for citizens.

Approach and implementation

Different parts in the DNA profiling process have been studied by analysis of both simulated traces and destroyed explosives. To simulate real scenarios, Bomb Technicians produced explosives which was dismantled or detonated. Subsequently, DNA was sampled, extracted and analyzed using the methods that was proven to be optimal for simulated traces in this study. This approach has led to good results and have demonstrated that the optimized methods work on several types of traces. Samples that are scarce, degraded and have inhibitors yields a DNA profile from the manufacturer.