Characterization of UVC-induced DNA damage in bloodstains: forensic implications

The ability to detect DNA polymorphisms using molecular genetic techniques has revolutionized the forensic analysis of biological evidence. DNA typing now plays a critical role within the criminal justice system, but one of the limiting factors with the technology is that DNA isolated from biological stains recovered from the crime scene is sometimes so damaged as to be intractable to analysis. Potential remedies for damaged DNA are likely to be dependent upon the precise nature of the DNA damage present in any particular sample but, unfortunately, current knowledge of the biochemical nature, and the extent, of such DNA damage in dried biological stains is rudimentary. As a model for DNA damage assessment in biological stains recovered from crime scenes, we have subjected human bloodstains and naked DNA in the hydrated and dehydrated states to varying doses of UVC radiation. It was possible to damage the DNA sufficiently in a bloodstain to cause a standard autosomal short tandem repeat (STR) profile to be lost. However, a detailed analysis of the process, based upon assays developed to detect bipyrimidine photoproducts (BPPPs), single- and double-strand breaks, and DNA-DNA crosslinks, produced some unexpected findings. Contrary to the situation with living tissues or cells in culture, the predominant UVC-induced damage to DNA in bloodstains appears not to be pyrimidine dimers. Although some evidence for the presence of BPPPs and DNA crosslinks was obtained, the major form of UVC damage causing genetic profile loss appeared to be single-strand breaks. It was not possible, however, to preclude the possibility that a combination of damage types was responsible for the profile loss observed. We demonstrate here that a significant measure of protection against UVC-mediated genetic profile loss in dried biological stain material is afforded by the dehydrated state of the DNA and, to a lesser extent, the DNA cellular milieu.