LAUSR

In forensic genetics, forensic and criminal issues are answered by means of molecular genetic methods. The main areas of responsibility are the assignment of crime scene evidence to suspects, kinship analyses like paternity testing, but also the identification of unidentified corpses [1–4]. When traditional identification methods, based on anthropological and biological characteristics, are no longer informative, e.g., due to advanced decomposition, fragmentation, or intermixing of remains in the case of mass victim disasters, DNA profiling is the gold standard for human identification and body part assignment [5]. In a case dating from 2017, the Department of Forensic Genetics of the Institute of Forensic Medicine and Traffic Medicine in Heidelberg, Germany, was commissioned to issue a relationship analysis to determine the identity of a deceased person. A corpse was found under cleared closure conditions in an apartment. For identification, a reference sample from the alleged biological brother was used to compare DNA profiles. The family was of Pakistani origin. Due to the advanced degree of decay, no conclusions about the identity and age could be drawn based on visual characteristics. In general, besides a brother-brother relationship or the possibility that there is no kinship at all, another relationship such as a father-son relationship may be possible. Because of the clarified closure conditions, no autopsy was commissioned. Due to an allelic dropout of the amelogenin homolog on the X chromosome of both, the unidentified corpse and the comparator, which was analyzed in detail by means of cloning and sequencing, conclusions could be drawn on the true relationship.