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Updated: Feb 15, 2026

Optimization for Sequencing and Analysis of Degraded FFPE-RNA Samples
Published on: June 8, 2020
qPCR and mtDNA SNP analysis of experimentally degraded hair samples and its application in forensic casework
Stephan Köhnemann1, Petra Pennekamp, Peter Fritz Schmidt
1Institute of Legal Medicine, Röntgenstr. 23, 48149 Münster, Germany. Stephan.Koehnemann@ukmuenster.de
Abstract:
A mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) quantification PCR (qPCR) method was developed and applied in a study with experimentally degraded hair samples (first study) and in a criminal case (second study). In the first study, the amount of detectable mtDNA decreased drastically after an incubation time of 1 month on a moist tissue in a heating cabin at 37 degrees C. In the second study, when the qPCR assay showed positive quantification results, further analysis of 32 mtDNA single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) via SNaPshot technique was always possible, indicating that successful mtDNA SNP analysis of forensic samples can be guaranteed by pre-screening samples with the qPCR described here.
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