DNA in stolen kisses could reveal sex offenders

SO ROMANTIC... when you kiss your partner passionately, not only do you exchange bacteria and mucus, you also impart some of your genetic code. No matter how fleeting the encounter, the DNA will hang around in their mouth for at least an hour. This means that women's saliva could contain evidence of unwanted attention in cases of assault, or even telltale signs of infidelity.

Nat?lia Kamodyov? and her colleagues at Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia, recruited 12 couples who agreed to kiss each other passionately for at least 2 minutes. Afterwards, saliva samples were collected from the women at 5, 10, 30 and 60-minute intervals. Because Kamodyov?'s method relies on detection of the Y chromosome, it can only be used to identify a man's DNA in a woman's saliva.

The results show that the man's DNA was still present and could be detected through amplification after at least an hour, and possibly longer. "We've shown it's possible to get a full profile, which could be useful in crime investigation to pinpoint the possible perpetrator among suspects or exclude those innocent," says Kamodyov?. Her team is investigating whether the DNA survives longer than an hour and whether it's obtainable from the mouths of women who have died (Forensic Science International: Genetics, DOI: 10.1016/j.fsigen.2012.07.007).

If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to.

Have your say

Only subscribers may leave comments on this article. Please log in.

Only personal subscribers may leave comments on this article

Subscribe now to comment.

All comments should respect the New Scientist House Rules. If you think a particular comment breaks these rules then please use the "Report" link in that comment to report it to us.

If you are having a technical problem posting a comment, please contact technical support.

Source: http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f/10897/s/27eb34b9/l/0L0Snewscientist0N0Carticle0Cmg217290A140B90A0A0Edna0Ein0Estolen0Ekisses0Ecould0Ereveal0Esex0Eoffenders0Bhtml0Dcmpid0FRSS0QNSNS0Q20A120EGLOBAL0Qonline0Enews/story01.htm

2012 oscar winners channel 3 news j lo j lo sacha baron cohen ryan seacrest octavia spencer meryl streep oscars