[Applications of forensic DNA technology in Gynecologic practice]

Genetic characterization of biological material in criminal cases and for parentage testing at the DNA level has gained wide acceptance. This paper describes the basic methodology of restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and the methodology based on the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). RFLP typing is performed in all cases where larger quantities of DNA are available because of its high discrimination power. PCR is used when only limited quantities of DNA or degraded DNA are available. There is a lot of applicabilities for the gynecologist, primarily in the investigation of sexual assault cases and in parentage testing of newborns, which is shown by several examples of forensic cases.