DNA analysis from human skeletal remains in forensic casework

To assess our laboratory’s success with skeletal remains and provide a benchmark for the forensic community involved in identification of these remains, we retrospectively examined our ability to develop DNA profiles from the remains analyzed in our laboratory in the last 7 years. Between January 2009 and December 2016, 70 DNA extractions were completed on skeletal remains from routine casework. 92% of skeletal remains analyzed were samples submitted for body identifications by law enforcement and only 8% were samples submitted to answer family identity or historical questions. Overall, the ability to obtain a full or partial profile primarily reflects the difference in the average age and the condition of the samples in these two categories and thus, difference in the quantity and quality of the DNA. We describe here the approximate age and type of remains we have received, whether a full, partial, or no profile was obtained, as well as the condition of the samples

Mutation rate at 13 rapidly mutating Y-STR loci in the population of Serbia

Recently, the interest of the forensic community has been focused on new Y-chromosomal short tandem repeats (Y-STRs), termed Rapidly Mutating Y-STRs (RM-YSTRs), which is able to differentiate between close males belonging to the same paternal lineage due to their high mutation rates. In this study, we have estimated a mutation rate for 13 RM-YSTR in 85 pairs of male relatives in the population of Serbia. We analysed 74 father-son pairs, and 11 twin pairs, to evaluate the capacity of distinguishing between male subjects within a single lineage. Each father-son couple was previously confirmed by autosomal STRs testing (AmpFℓSTR® Identifiler Plus™ kit, Applied Biosystems) with paternity probability ≥99.99% and also confirmed monozygotic or dizygotic twins. Results showed that, in the 74 father-son pairs 23 mutations were detected of which 22 were one-step mutations and 1 was two-step mutation, while in the 11 twin pairs 1 mutation was observed in one dizygotic twin pair. Five father-son pairs were found to have mutations at two loci, while one pair at four loci. Overall, the most mutable markers were DYF399S1, DYF387S1, DYF403S1a and DYS612. Our findings are encouraging and concur with previous studies showing that by RM-YSTR typing the discrimination power of male relatives could be considerably increased in comparison to every YSTR markers commonly used in forensic genetics

Rapidly mutating Y-STRs population data in the population of Serbia and haplotype probability assessment for forensic purposes

Recent research with Rapidly Mutating Y-STRs (RM Y-STRs) have shown that these loci provide substantially higher haplotype diversity and haplotype discrimination capacity in worldwide populations when compared with the Y-STRs commonly used in genetic forensics. The aim of this study was to develop an allelic frequency database for the population of Serbia in order to evaluate the resolution power of 13 RM Y-STRs. A total of 279 unrelated males from the population of Serbia were typed with 13 RM Y-STRs loci: DYF387S1, DYF399S1, DYF403S1a/b, DYF404S1, DYS449, DYS518, DYS526a/b, DYS547, DYS570, DYS576, DYS612, DYS626 and DYS627. A high Y-STR haplotype diversity was found (0.999768) in our samples. As expected, the RM Y-STR loci showed high genetics diversity (GD) values (>0.73) in the Serbian population. The highest GD was observed for the locus DYF399S1 (0.991), followed by loci DYF403S1a (0.976), DYF387S1 (0.907) and DYF404S1 (0.899). Based on the results of this study, the RM Y-STR loci showed remarkable haplotype resolution power in the population of Serbia, high genetics diversity and, therefore, demonstrating their usefulness in forensic identification cases

Quantifying the mass transfer from mountain ranges to deposition in sedimentary basins: Source to sink studies in the Danube Basin – Black Sea system

A source to sink system describes the natural link between mountains, plains and deltas, by analysing the (re)distribution of material at shallow crustal depth and at the Earth's surface, exploring the links between coupled tectonic and surface processes. Sediment fluxes are the product of erosion and movement of material in and from sources (mountains), the transport and movement of sediments and solutes by river systems to the plains, and deposition and storage in sink zones. The ESF-EUROCORES TOPO-EUROPE SourceSink programme is a fully integrated research effort to significantly advance our predictive capabilities on the quantitative analyses of coupled active and past drainage systems by means of step-wise 4D reconstructions of sediments mass transfer, integrating geophysics, geology, geomorphology, state of the art high-resolution dating, and numerical and analogue modelling. The area selected for this programme is the Danube River Basin–Black Sea source to sink system, a world-class natural laboratory that is uniquely suited in the heart of Europe's topography, covering almost half of its surface, providing opportunities for excellent field sites to study in integration surface and subsurface data that cover the complete chain of source, carrier and sink. Quantifying and modelling the complete system in relation to the controlling parameters has resulted in significant understanding of forcing factors and linking temporal and spatial scales across multiple orogen and basin systems. This research has provided the opportunity to widen the geographical scope to other natural scenarios, where a number of mountain chains with similar geodynamic genesis separate sedimentary basins with comparable evolution