First successful DNA isolation and profiling from bone using an approach that is non-destructive toward bone surface

Commonly used destructive DNA isolation techniques consist of pulverization which leads to the complete destruction of smaller bones or irreversible damage to larger bones through the cutting of extensive fragments. The procedure is totally unacceptable when handling bones which are valuable for anthropological or religious reasons, as museum exhibits or due to emotional factors. Since the Department's team has already resolved this problem in the case of human teeth (A. Pilecka), efforts have been undertaken to develop a similar non-destructive technique for the isolation of DNA from human bones. To the best knowledge of the authors of the report, the study has yielded the world's first STR profile derived from DNA isolated from human bones by a technique that is non-destructive toward the bone surface.