Problems of Forensic Sciences 2008 Vol. 76 (LXXVI) 369-381
APPLICATION OF BIOROBOT M48 TO DNA EXTRACTION FROM BIOLOGICAL SPECIMENS ANALYSED IN FORENSIC INVESTIGATIONS
Agnieszka PARYS-PROSZEK, Wojciech BRANICKI, Paulina WOLAŃSKA-NOWAK, Tomasz KUPIEC
Institute of Forensic Research, Krakow, Poland
Streszczenie
New methods of nucleic acids extraction based on magnetic separation have opened up possibilities of automation of the process of DNA isolation. Magnetic separation has been applied for instance in the BioRobot M48 apparatus, which enables simultaneous and efficient extraction of up to 48 DNA samples. The aim of this work was to evaluate possibilities of application of BioRobot M48 to examination of both typical biological traces and traces subjected to heavy degradation processes. The performed experiments allowed comparative analysis of the quality and efficiency of magnetic DNA extraction in relation to the previously applied phenol-chloroform method. The results obtained for typical biological traces which are most commonly investigated in forensic laboratories (i.e. blood, semen, saliva, hair roots) indicate that magnetic extraction using BioRobot M48 can completely replace the phenol-chloroform method. However, in the case of traces subjected to strong degradation processes, the method based on phenol-chloroform extraction should still be considered as much more efficient.
Słowa kluczowe
Automation of DNA extraction; Magnetic method of DNA isolation; BioRobot M48; Phenol-chloroform DNA extraction; Comparative examination of DNA extraction methods.