Massively Parallel Sequencing of the Mitogenome from Human Hair Shafts in Forensic Investigations.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Methodological laboratory protocol (Level 5 by design analogy, not clinical CEBM)
PubMed 37579069 · doi:10.1002/cpz1.865
What was done
Described a five-step laboratory and bioinformatic workflow for forensic mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) analysis from human hair shafts: mitochondrial DNA extraction (Basic Protocol 1), mtDNA quantification in copies/µl (Basic Protocol 2), multiplex mitogenome amplification (Basic Protocol 3), library preparation and amplicon-based massively parallel sequencing (Basic Protocol 4), and mitogenome haplotype analysis (Basic Protocol 5). The protocol is designed for rootless hair cuttings as small as 1 to 5 mm and samples stored up to 40 years.
What was found
The abstract outlines the step-by-step procedural framework but reports no quantitative outcome data, sequencing success rates, coverage depth, or error metrics.
Why it matters
Provides a complete, reproducible protocol for recovering full mitogenome data from minimal and degraded hair shaft samples commonly encountered in cold cases and forensic casework.
Limits
The abstract contains no empirical validation data, benchmarking against alternative extraction or sequencing methods, or sample size metrics to assess protocol robustness across varying degrees of environmental degradation.
Cited by
- supports Hair contains high concentrations of mitochondrial DNA, which is what is sequenced in forensic hair analysis.