Masamitsu Honma

Individual Identification from Semen by the Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) Fingerprint Technique

For individual identification from semen, the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) fingerprint technique was used. In a blind trial, we succeeded in determining the semen donors among several volunteers comparing the DNA fingerprints of the blood and semen samples, respectively. Thereafter, we examined semen in a condom left beside a naked female dead body. The DNA fingerprint of the semen was recognized to be identical to that of the blood from a suspected man arrested later. This is the first report that the DNA fingerprint technique was practically used in a criminal investigation in Japan.

Probability of Paternity in Paternity Testing Using the DNA Fingerprint Procedure

For the purpose of applying DNA fingerprinting to paternity testing, we established a general formula to calculate the probability of paternity and evaluated the ability of DNA fingerprinting to determine paternity.

DNA fingerprints: The importance in forensic medicine

SummaryInvestigation of genomic polymorphisms detected by a minisatellite named tentatively “Myo”, which is expected to correspond to the minisatellite in human myoglobin gene of Jeffreys et al., gives distinct and different aspects of chorionic villus and the decidual membrane in the same placenta. The chorionic villus, which is regarded as the extraembryonal tissue, represents the essential embryonal DNA fingerprint pattern, while the decidual membrane reveals the maternal one. A comparison between the DNA fingerprints from the chorion villus and from the blood sample of the suspected father provides the possibility of setting a paternity determination which can be achieved during the first trimester of a pregnancy.ZusammenfassungDie genomischen Eigenschaften der Plazenta wurden mit Hilfe von einer Sonde “Myo” gegenüber dem Minisatellit, der im Bereich vom humanen Myoglobinen vorhanden ist, analysiert. Der DNS Fingerabdruck von Chorionzotten stimmt völlig mit dem des Fötus überein, während der Fingerabdruck der Dezidua die mütterliche Herkunft darstellt. Die Analyse von verschiedenen DNS Fingerabdrücken aus Fötus, Chorionzotten, Mutter und Vater bei einer künstlichen Schwangerschaftsunterbrechung hat gezeigt, daß der DNS Fingerabdruck von Chorionzotten, die gewöhnlich bei der klinischen Chorionzottenbiopsie entnommen werden können, die entscheidende Auskunft darüber gibt, das Bestehen der Vaterschaft vollständig zu beweisen.