Telling a person's age from blood sample

Discussion in 'Chemistry' started by Plazma Inferno!, Jul 1, 2016.

  1. Plazma Inferno! Ding Ding Ding Ding Administrator

    Messages:
    4,610
    Chemists at the University at Albany, SUNY, have described a new method for quickly but accurately determining a person’s age range based only on a blood sample. The test could one day be used to help narrow down suspects in a crime scene investigation as easily as getting results from a glucose or pregnancy test.
    Traditional DNA analysis can take up to 72 hours and carries no reliable information about a person’s age. So team of scientists focused on levels of alkaline phosphatase (ALP), an enzyme found in blood, to determine age.
    Using a procedure called a biocatalytic assay, the researchers looked for specific chemicals created by the enzyme’s activity. That allowed them to determine ALP levels, and thus age ranges, with a success rate of nearly 100 percent. Even after leaving the samples on a lab bench for 48 hours to simulate the time that may pass at a crime scene, the results were still just as accurate.

    http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/06/crime-scene-blood-age-suspects-victims-science-forensics/

    Paper: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.analchem.6b01169?journalCode=ancham
     
  2. Google AdSense Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  3. origin Heading towards oblivion Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    11,888
    It seems less impressive to know that 100% accuracy was only based on determining if a man was older or younger than 18 not the person's age.
     
    Plazma Inferno! likes this.
  4. Google AdSense Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.

Share This Page