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Open Access 20-01-2024 | Epigenetics | Review

Epigenetic analyses in forensic medicine: future and challenges

Authors: Maria Carla Gerra, Cristina Dallabona, Rossana Cecchi

Published in: International Journal of Legal Medicine | Issue 3/2024

Abstract

The possibility of using epigenetics in forensic investigation has gradually risen over the last few years. Epigenetic changes with their dynamic nature can either be inherited or accumulated throughout a lifetime and be reversible, prompting investigation of their use across various fields. In forensic sciences, multiple applications have been proposed, such as the discrimination of monozygotic twins, identifying the source of a biological trace left at a crime scene, age prediction, determination of body fluids and tissues, human behavior association, wound healing progression, and determination of the post-mortem interval (PMI). Despite all these applications, not all the studies considered the impact of PMI and post-sampling effects on the epigenetic modifications and the tissue-specificity of the epigenetic marks.

This review aims to highlight the substantial forensic significance that epigenetics could support in various forensic investigations. First, basic concepts in epigenetics, describing the main epigenetic modifications and their functions, in particular, DNA methylation, histone modifications, and non-coding RNA, with a particular focus on forensic applications, were covered. For each epigenetic marker, post-mortem stability and tissue-specificity, factors that should be carefully considered in the study of epigenetic biomarkers in the forensic context, have been discussed. The advantages and limitations of using post-mortem tissues have been also addressed, proposing directions for these innovative strategies to analyze forensic specimens.

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Title: Epigenetic analyses in forensic medicine: future and challenges
Authors: Maria Carla Gerra
Cristina Dallabona
Rossana Cecchi
Publication date: 20-01-2024
Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Keyword: Epigenetics
Published in: International Journal of Legal Medicine / Issue 3/2024
Print ISSN: 0937-9827
Electronic ISSN: 1437-1596
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-024-03165-8

2024 ASCO Annual Meeting

Springer Medicine

Epigenetic analyses in forensic medicine: future and challenges

Abstract

2024 ASCO Annual Meeting

Springer Medicine

Abstract

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