Award Date

5-15-2026

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Chemistry and Biochemistry

First Committee Member

Kenneth Czerwinski

Second Committee Member

Artem Gelis

Third Committee Member

Daniel Koury

Fourth Committee Member

Lung-Wen Chen

Number of Pages

49

Abstract

Known for its impressive discriminatory power, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) fingerprinting stands as the “gold standard” of forensic investigation. However, complications arise when such evidence is contaminated with radioactive material. Though biological samples exposed to ionizing radiation can still yield comprehensive DNA profiles, most forensic laboratories lack the facilities which meet the safety and security requirements necessary for handling radioactive material. While nuclear facilities can decontaminate samples prior to forensic analysis, conventional methods for radiological decontamination – such as mechanical cleaning and chemical washes – may degrade the quality of the forensic evidence. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of commercially available DNA extraction kits in treating radiologically contaminated biological material. Human whole blood samples (n=12) were spiked with cerium (2,5000-10,000 ppm) – a common surrogate for plutonium – and processed using the ChargeSwitch® Forensic DNA Purification Kit. The quantity and quality of the extracted DNA were determined using spectrophotometric and fluorometric methods while the amount of cerium removed at each step of the extraction process was evaluated using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES). The ChargeSwitch® kit removed approximately 99.9% of the contaminating cerium across all tested concentrations with the majority removed following the lysis step (98.66-133.76%). Percent recoveries exceeding 100% were attributed to volumetric estimation errors. The DNA yield (2.26-2.80 ng/μL, n=6) was consistent with the amounts required for most polymerase chain reaction (PCR) applications. These findings demonstrate the efficacy of commercial DNA extraction kits at decontaminating radiological specimens, with potential application following nuclear security incidents.

Keywords

DNA Extraction; Magnetic Bead Separation; Nuclear Forensics; Radiochemistry

Disciplines

Chemistry | Forensic Science and Technology | Radiochemistry

File Format

PDF

File Size

1338 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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