Researchers at the University of Leicester say cat hair could be the perfect way to catch criminals. They say the DNA contained in a single cat hair could link a suspect to a crime scene or victim.
With around 26% of UK households owning a cat, and the average cat shedding thousands of hairs a year, it is inevitable that owners will leave "evidence" of cat hair on their bodies, which could be a clue to forensic investigations into criminal activity.
While human offenders make every effort not to leave their DNA behind, the DNA contained in cat hair can provide a link between the suspect and the crime scene or to the victim.
In a paper published earlier this month in the journal International Court of Justice Science: Genetics, researchers at the University of Leicester describe a sensitive method for extracting the most DNA information from a single cat hair.
With around 26% of UK households owning a cat, and the average cat shedding thousands of hairs a year, it is inevitable that owners will leave "evidence" of cat hair on their bodies, which could be a clue to forensic investigations into criminal activity.
While human offenders make every effort not to leave their DNA behind, the DNA contained in cat hair can provide a link between the suspect and the crime scene or to the victim.
In a paper published earlier this month in the journal International Court of Justice Science: Genetics, researchers at the University of Leicester describe a sensitive method for extracting the most DNA information from a single cat hair.
Emily Patterson, lead author of the study and a PhD student at the University of Leicester, said, "The hairs shed by cats do not have hair roots and therefore contain very little usable DNA. In fact, we were only able to analyze mitochondrial DNA, which is passed from mother to offspring and shared between cats that are maternally related." This means that hair DNA cannot identify a cat on its own, so maximizing the information available in forensic testing is critical.
However, a new method discovered by the researchers has enabled them to sequence the entire mitochondrial DNA, ensuring that it is around 10 times more discriminating than previous techniques that only looked at short segments of DNA.
Dr. Jon Wetton, of the university's Department of Genetics and Genome Biology, was co-leader of the study. He said: "In a previous murder case we applied earlier techniques, but fortunately the suspect's cat had an uncommon mitochondrial variant whereas most cat pedigrees are indistinguishable from each other. Now, with our new method, almost every cat has a rare DNA type, so if hairs are found, the test will almost certainly provide useful information."
The team tested the method in missing cat cases, where DNA from the skeletal remains of missing female cats could be matched with DNA from the hairs of surviving male offspring.
Study co-leader Mark Jobling, professor of genetics, added: "Pet hair is a valuable source of connecting evidence in criminal cases where there is no human DNA to test, and our method makes it even more powerful. The same approach can be applied to other species - especially dogs."
However, a new method discovered by the researchers has enabled them to sequence the entire mitochondrial DNA, ensuring that it is around 10 times more discriminating than previous techniques that only looked at short segments of DNA.
Dr. Jon Wetton, of the university's Department of Genetics and Genome Biology, was co-leader of the study. He said: "In a previous murder case we applied earlier techniques, but fortunately the suspect's cat had an uncommon mitochondrial variant whereas most cat pedigrees are indistinguishable from each other. Now, with our new method, almost every cat has a rare DNA type, so if hairs are found, the test will almost certainly provide useful information."
The team tested the method in missing cat cases, where DNA from the skeletal remains of missing female cats could be matched with DNA from the hairs of surviving male offspring.
Study co-leader Mark Jobling, professor of genetics, added: "Pet hair is a valuable source of connecting evidence in criminal cases where there is no human DNA to test, and our method makes it even more powerful. The same approach can be applied to other species - especially dogs."
