Improved DNA extraction from marine bones: A 15-year retrospective evaluation using an adapted Dabney extraction...

Extracting DNA for the purpose of identification from bone material, especially for old samples or from extreme environmental conditions, has always been a challenging task in forensic genetics. At our forensic institute with two locations between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, found marine bones are regularly submitted for evaluation and analyzed using molecular biology methods.

An improvement to commercially available bead-based methods routinely used for the bone investigations and often yielding poor or no DNA, was therefore aimed for. In the present study, an overview of all marine bones analyzed from the years 2009-2024 was conducted and samples - if possible - reanalyzed with a newly introduced adapted extraction method according to Dabney.

A total of 82 bone finds have been examined over the last 15 years, 18 of which (22%) could eventually be re-examined using the adapted Dabney method. Morphologically, 61% of the bone finds were long tubular bones, followed by skulls and mandibular bones with both 13%. Compared to the North Sea bones, the Baltic Sea bones were better preserved on the outside, but showed increased adhesions of algae and barnacles. A comparison with the previously obtained molecular analysis results showed for the majority of the reanalyzed bones significantly higher DNA concentrations up to a 98-fold increase, enabling DNA profiling with an overall better quality (41% complete profiles compared to 12%).

The reanalysis demonstrated that the adapted Dabney method extracts DNA from marine bones more effectively, and thus offers a superior alternative to a commonly used forensic extraction method.