Laser microdissection in forensic sciences

Abstract

Laser capture microdissection (LCM) is a valuable tool in forensic sciences. In cases of sexual assault, spermatozoa recovered from postcoital samples can be automatically screened after staining with Sperm HY-LITER™. Male cells from male/female mixtures can be automatically screened after fluorescence in situ hybridization in suspension (S-FISH) by using Y-chromosome-specific probes. In both cases, male cells were isolated using LCM and DNA analysis was performed. Full DNA profiles could consistently be obtained from as little as 30 spermatozoa and 10 male cells respectively, which proves that staining with Sperm HY-LITER™ as well as S-FISH had no significant influence on DNA recovery