TY - JOUR
T1 - An integratable microfluidic cartridge for forensic swab samples lysis
AU - Yang, Jianing
AU - Brooks, Carla
AU - Estes, Matthew D.
AU - Hurth, Cedric M.
AU - Zenhausern, Frederic
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was sponsored by a grant from the European Commission Seventh FrameWork Project (FP7). We acknowledge our colleagues of the FP7 MiDAS Consortium, in-particular, Ate Kloosterman and Laurens Grol, from the Netherland Forensic Institute for the constructive discussions as well as the exchange of useful forensic insight. Authors would like to thank Matt Barrett and Alan Nordquist for the high quality work in cartridge fabrication and Stanley Smith and Brett Duane for their technical support for the Mini-MiDAS instrument.
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - Fully automated rapid forensic DNA analysis requires integrating several multistep processes onto a single microfluidic platform, including substrate lysis, extraction of DNA from the released lysate solution, multiplexed PCR amplification of STR loci, separation of PCR products by capillary electrophoresis, and analysis for allelic peak calling. Over the past several years, most of the rapid DNA analysis systems developed started with the reference swab sample lysate and involved an off-chip lysis of collected substrates. As a result of advancement in technology and chemistry, addition of a microfluidic module for swab sample lysis has been achieved in a few of the rapid DNA analysis systems. However, recent reports on integrated rapid DNA analysis systems with swab-in and answer-out capability lack any quantitative and qualitative characterization of the swab-in sample lysis module, which is important for downstream forensic sample processing. Maximal collection and subsequent recovery of the biological material from the crime scene is one of the first and critical steps in forensic DNA technology. Herein we present the design, fabrication and characterization of an integratable swab lysis cartridge module and the test results obtained from different types of commonly used forensic swab samples, including buccal, saliva, and blood swab samples, demonstrating the compatibility with different downstream DNA extraction chemistries. This swab lysis cartridge module is easy to operate, compatible with both forensic and microfluidic requirements, and ready to be integrated with our existing automated rapid forensic DNA analysis system. Following the characterization of the swab lysis module, an integrated run from buccal swab sample-in to the microchip CE electropherogram-out was demonstrated on the integrated prototype instrument. Therefore, in this study, we demonstrate that this swab lysis cartridge module is: (1) functionally, comparable with routine benchtop lysis, (2) compatible with various types of swab samples and chemistries, and (3) integratable to achieve a micro total analysis system (μTAS) for rapid DNA analysis.
AB - Fully automated rapid forensic DNA analysis requires integrating several multistep processes onto a single microfluidic platform, including substrate lysis, extraction of DNA from the released lysate solution, multiplexed PCR amplification of STR loci, separation of PCR products by capillary electrophoresis, and analysis for allelic peak calling. Over the past several years, most of the rapid DNA analysis systems developed started with the reference swab sample lysate and involved an off-chip lysis of collected substrates. As a result of advancement in technology and chemistry, addition of a microfluidic module for swab sample lysis has been achieved in a few of the rapid DNA analysis systems. However, recent reports on integrated rapid DNA analysis systems with swab-in and answer-out capability lack any quantitative and qualitative characterization of the swab-in sample lysis module, which is important for downstream forensic sample processing. Maximal collection and subsequent recovery of the biological material from the crime scene is one of the first and critical steps in forensic DNA technology. Herein we present the design, fabrication and characterization of an integratable swab lysis cartridge module and the test results obtained from different types of commonly used forensic swab samples, including buccal, saliva, and blood swab samples, demonstrating the compatibility with different downstream DNA extraction chemistries. This swab lysis cartridge module is easy to operate, compatible with both forensic and microfluidic requirements, and ready to be integrated with our existing automated rapid forensic DNA analysis system. Following the characterization of the swab lysis module, an integrated run from buccal swab sample-in to the microchip CE electropherogram-out was demonstrated on the integrated prototype instrument. Therefore, in this study, we demonstrate that this swab lysis cartridge module is: (1) functionally, comparable with routine benchtop lysis, (2) compatible with various types of swab samples and chemistries, and (3) integratable to achieve a micro total analysis system (μTAS) for rapid DNA analysis.
KW - DNA extraction and quantification
KW - Forensic swab sample
KW - Integratable
KW - Lysis efficiency
KW - STR analysis
KW - Swab lysis cartridge
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U2 - 10.1016/j.fsigen.2013.08.012
DO - 10.1016/j.fsigen.2013.08.012
M3 - Article
C2 - 24315603
AN - SCOPUS:84884844468
SN - 1872-4973
VL - 8
SP - 147
EP - 158
JO - Forensic Science International: Genetics
JF - Forensic Science International: Genetics
IS - 1
ER -