Another phantom from the morgue--a case of instrument-born sample contamination in the course of identifying an...

Due to its high reliability, DNA-typing is the method of preference in the field of osseous human remains identification. Nevertheless, contaminations from various sources have been shown to be inherent to the system, especially if the DNA-yield of samples under investigation is expected to be at a low level. For this reason a special focus has to be put on sampling procedures and contamination control in order to prevent from false results. In this study we present an illustrative case report followed by particular recommendations for taking samples from osseous human remains.