The new findings can be a great boost for forensic scientists. As well, the researchers are looking into whether protein markers from teeth and bones can also be used for identification purposes.
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In the study, researchers found significant correlations between patterns in hair proteins and DNA. This could be useful for forensic analysis because, unlike DNA, hair proteins are stable and stay intact for long periods of time.
The team’s collaborators and advisers include researchers from seven universities – Utah Valley University, the University of Utah, Montana State University, the University of California, Davis, the University of Bradford in the United Kingdom, George Mason University and the University of Washington. The U.S. Defense Department and the Justice Department collaborated with research grants and the lab already spent about $3 million.
Details of the protein-centric hair analysis technique were published in PLOS ONE.
Citation: Parker GJ, Leppert T, Anex DS, Hilmer JK, Matsunami N, Baird L, et al. Scientists have discovered a new and better way in identifying someone through sequencing hair proteins.
The study noted that there are significant correlations between the patterns of a person’s hair protein and DNA. But these are differences of degree, not of kind, as the hard part was just getting to this point in the first place. Proteomics, the study of proteins produces by genes, may identify genetic mutations and genetic material enough to identify or to exclude people involved in a crime. In addition, the method now requires more hair than would be likely left behind at a crime scene.
In contrast, protein is more stable than DNA and can also have variations that may be unique to the individual.
According to a press release from Lawrence Livermore, the research is building on a 2009 report from the National Research Council that took issue with the scientific pitfalls found in modern genetic identification techniques, while arguing for the introduction of new forensic testing methods.
Hair is made of proteins, which in turn are made up of amino acids.
Human hair could be more effective than fingerprints because it has some proteins. For example, staff from the Forensic Science Graduate Program at the University of California consider it is still unknown how are proteins affected by the environment and diets, as well as why the protein markers are unique and different even in identical twins with matching DNA profiles. Don’t expect this method to be used by forensics professionals any time soon, though, as it still has to undergo further research. Seeing how hair is one of the most common pieces of evidence perpetrators leave at a crime scene, hair protein identification might be a game-changer in law enforcement.
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At the advanced level, the team is aiming to trace 100 protein markers to demarcate a single individual stand different from the entire world’s population with a single strand of hair.
