PubMed · 7462995
The source did not provide an abstract. Follow the original record for more information.
Explore connections, maps & timelines
J K Holt. 1980. Identification from bite marks.. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0015-7368(80)71350-6
Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.
KEEP EXPLORING
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Dermatophagia is a neurodermatitis akin to onychophagia, onychotillomania, trichotillomania, dermatothlasia, neurotic excoriations, and other conditions in which persons have a neurotic habit or compulsion to self-multilate their skin or its appendages. Dermatophagia is a habit or compulsion, consciously or subconsciously, to bite one's own skin. We believe "dermatophagia" is a more appropriate term for this disorder than the descriptive term "wolf-biter".
Human bite mark evidence is often found in violent crimes. Due to the difficulties of physically comparing an injury site on elastic and curved skin surfaces to the teeth of a suspect, the authors have considered using salivary DNA evidence to identify the bite perpetrator. Several techniques were evaluated to determine the best method of recovering saliva from human skin before extracting genomic DNA from the collection substrate. A classical stain recovery technique using a wet cotton swab was tested against one utilizing a wet filter paper. Additionally, a new method, referred to as the double swab technique, using a wet cotton swab followed by a dry cotton swab was also evaluated. After recovering a dried saliva stain, DNA was extracted using the modified Chelex method, quantified using the slot-blot procedure, and amplified at three polymorphic loci. The double swab technique showed the highest percentage recovery of saliva from human skin among the three methods studied. This technique is suggested as an improvement over the classical single wet cotton swab technique.