Scientists in the US have unveiled details of a colorimetric assay that could provide an initial indication of a suspect’s gender during the on-scene stages of a forensic investigation. 
Narrowing the pool of potential suspects early on in their investigations can give the police the upper hand. However, traditional DNA analysis requires laboratory conditions, sophisticated equipment and time. Rapid, simple, on-site analysis of blood left behind at a crime scene may provide investigators with a head start to quickly identify a group of possible suspects or rule out others.
Complementing their previous work, which used the enzyme biomarkers of creatine kinase (CK) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) to differentiate between blood samples from different ethnicities, Evgeny Katz at Clarkson University, Potsdam, and Jan Halámek at the University at Albany, State University of New York, have combined analysis of CK with another biomarker, alanine transaminase (ALT), to distinguish between male and female human serum samples. The levels of CK and ALT in the blood of males and females are known to show a small but significant difference. Using a multi-enzyme/multistep biocatalytic cascade, this small difference can be amplified and with the final step involving a coloured compound, a visual identification of gender can be made.
To read the full article, please go to Chemistry World.
Biocatalytic analysis of biomarkers for forensic identification of gender
Saira Bakshi, Lenka Halámková, Jan Halámek and Evgeny Katz
Analyst, 2014,139, 559-563
DOI: 10.1039/C3AN02055J, Communication
