Post mortem DNA analysis for determining time of death and sex identification

Time if death is usually estimated by evaluating events mostly occur after death. In this paper the potential application of nuclear DNA image analysis in liver tissue used to evaluate post mortem interval. After death, internal nucleases within the cells cause degradation of nuclear DNA of hepatocyte more rapidly than other tissue , where liver cell rich in lysosomes that contain hydrolases enzymes. Nuclear DNA degradation is measurable and quantifiable in relation to time. Three liver samples were taken at zero, 24, 48, 72 hours, 5 days, one and two weeks post mortem interval. DNA ploidy, DNA index (1&2), mean DNA content, nuclear area and DNA histogram were found to correlate with an increased post mortem interval from zero to 72 h. hepatocyte nucleus and sequenced DNA histogram couldn’t be detected at or more than 5 days after death. Three skeletal muscle samples ( at zero, 24, 72, 1w, 2w, 19 days and 21 days)were used for sex identification using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique. Sex could be identified till two weeks post mortem interval. from these results nuclear DNA in hepatocyte reveals time dependent alteration. So can used as a predictor for post mortem interval. DNA in certain tissue (Skeletal muscle) is more stable and allowing to perform DNA typing (sex identification) by polymerase chain reaction.