Forensic Analysis of Human DNA from Samples Contaminated with Biological Weapons Agents

Abstract

The use of biological agents as potential weapons has been a concern of security agencies for many years. Security agencies require alternative field protocols for handling forensic samples that could be contaminated with biological weapons. In this study, manual and automated DNA extractions were compared for the ability to remove biological agents and for their effectiveness and consistency when samples were contaminated with bacteria, spores or toxins. Purified DNA was evaluated for the absence of the agents, and for the effects of the process on the isolated human DNA. Results demonstrated that incubation of samples in a cell lysis solution eliminated bacteria and toxins, but an additional 0.22 µm filtration step was necessary to successfully remove bacterial spores. Blood and buccal swab samples exposed to some bacteria showed DNA loss and/or degradation. The automated extraction procedure would be preferable over the manual protocol to isolate human DNA contaminated with biological weapons.