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We
know that you look to this venue for political and social guidance, but
you may not know that, every once in a while, we're sought out for scientific
expertise as well:
Dear George,
I am a comedian writing a comedy novel in Western Australia. I went to
your Monica Lewinsky
website and think that maybe you can help me. So:
If a bedsheet had semen on it, which had dried for twelve hours:
Would DNA testing be possible?
How would it be done?
Could the semen definitely be matched to a specific person?
How long would the process take?
If you can help, great.
Thanks, jude
Judith Bridge
jude@q-net.net.au |
We found an expert locally with not much difficulty.
Mr. Loper,
To the best of my knowledge, dried semen can be suspended in buffer and
the DNA can be extracted, amplified, and analyzed for various STR polymorphisms.
Although drying is not the best way to preserve any biological specimen,
there should not be too much degradation of the DNA in the time period specified.
If the DNA has not undergone much degradation, it should be possible
to match the semen to a particular individual. The analysis could be done
in a day or two depending on how much one was willing to pay for expedited
treatment.
Robert J. Huskey
rjh9u@blue.unix.virginia.edu
Emeritus Professor, Dept. of Biology, UVa |
and expect due credit upon publication.
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