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Combining current knowledge on DNA methylation-based age estimation towards the development of a superior forensic
Anastasia Aliferi1, Sudha Sundaram1, David Ballard1
1King's Forensics, Department of Analytical, Environmental and Forensic Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, King's College London, London, United Kingdom.
Forensic Science International. Genetics
|December 2, 2021
Summary
Forensic scientists can now estimate chronological age from blood using DNA methylation patterns. This new method offers high accuracy with minimal DNA input, advancing forensic DNA intelligence tools.
Area of Science:
- Forensic Science
- Genetics
- Epigenetics
Background:
- Estimating chronological age from biological samples is crucial for forensic science.
- DNA methylation patterns exhibit age-related variability, offering potential for forensic age estimation tools.
- Previous research utilized massively parallel sequencing (MPS) for DNA methylation analysis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a highly accurate and sensitive DNA methylation-based age estimation method for blood.
- To identify optimal DNA methylation markers for forensic age prediction.
- To validate the method's performance with minimal DNA input and in diverse populations.
Main Methods:
- Statistical evaluation of 11 DNA methylation markers from 51 studies and over 4000 individuals.
- Validation using in-house generated massively parallel sequencing (MPS) data.
- Application of a support vector machine algorithm for age prediction.
Main Results:
- A panel of 11 DNA methylation markers demonstrated high potential for age estimation from minimal DNA.
- The developed model achieved a mean absolute error (MAE) of 3.3 years, maintaining accuracy with as little as 5 ng of DNA.
- The model showed consistent accuracy in a Spanish test set (MAE = 3.8 years) and higher accuracy for individuals under 55 (MAE = 2.6 years).
Conclusions:
- The study presents a robust DNA methylation-based age estimation method for forensic applications.
- The method is accurate, sensitive to low DNA input, and shows no significant sex-related bias or population-specific variations.
- This advancement provides a valuable tool for forensic 'DNA intelligence'.
