Forensics: Blood and teeth samples accurately predict a criminal's age

You've probably seen it on crime shows. Forensic scientists oftentimes collect evidence from both blood and teeth to help them identify a dead body--particularly in determining the the person's age. 

When forensic examiners first trace the blood at a crime scene, they try and identify the perpetrator on the basis of DNA. From there, blood and teeth samples can be used to identify age estimation, particularly when traditional methods are unable to give the proper leads. 

In this recent study, a team of forensic biomedical scientists from KU Leuven, Belgium, developed a test to predict an individuals' age based on both blood and teeth samples that accurately help the police in tracking down criminals when identifying human remains. The new technique is useful in the context of police investigations as it can help in determining unidentified body.

"The behaviour of our organs and tissues depends on which of our genes are activated. As we grow older, some genes are switched on, while others are switched off," Professor Bram Bekaert from the KU Leuven Forensic Biomedical Sciences Unit , said in a news release. "This process is partly regulated by methylation, whereby methyl groups are added to our DNA. In specific locations, genes with high methylation levels are deactivated." 

They predicted individuals' ages based on a set of four age-associated DNA methylatioin markers. The methylation levels of the markers were used for highly accurate age predictions that helped determine an individuals' age with a margin of error at 3.75 years for blood samples and 4.86 years for teeth.

Related Articles

Poor Communities At Risk For Poor Dental Hygiene

For more great science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).