ISSN: 0022-1198
CODEN: JFSCA
Page Count: 4

The Effect of Luminol on Presumptive Tests and DNA Analysis Using the Polymerase Chain Reaction
Gross, AM
Forensic scientist, Minnesota Forensic Science Laboratory, Minnesota

Kaldun, GL
Forensic Scientist and Crime Scene Coordinator, Minnesota Forensic Science Laboratory, Minnesota

Harris, KA
Forensic science intern, Minnesota Forensic Science Laboratory, Minnesota

(Received 30 December 1997; accepted 7 October 1998)

Abstract

This study was designed to test the following factors involved with processing luminol treated bloodstained evidence: 1) The reactivity of other presumptive chemical color tests, phenolphthalin (PT) and tetramethylbenzidine (TMB), following the application of the light emitting luminol presumptive test. 2) The effect of different cleanings of various bloody substrates on the luminol test. 3) The effect of different cleanings of various bloody substrates on the ability to obtain DNA suitable for PCR testing. 4) The ability to extract DNA from luminol treated bloodstained substrates using three extraction techniques. 5) The effect of spraying washed and unwashed bloodstains on various substrates with luminol on the ability to correctly type the DNA using PCR. Our findings indicated that luminol did not adversely effect the PCR testing and did not interfere with the PT and TMB presumptive tests for blood. It was determined that the substrate and the method of cleaning were the major factors affecting DNA yield and the ability to type the bloodstains using PCR based technologies.

Keywords:
forensic science, blood test, DNA typing, polymerase chain reaction, DQA1, LDLR, GYPA, HBGG, D7S8, GC, Polymarker, short tandem repeats, vWA, FGA, D3S1358, luminol, phenolphthalin, tetramethylbenzidine

Paper ID: JFS14561J
DOI: 10.1520/JFS14561J
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