This dissertation addresses the crisis involving the backlog of untested sexual assault kits that have resulted in hundreds of thousands of unresolved cases in the United States, by presenting the development and verification of a technology that amplifies male DNA in vaginal swab samples that were aged for up to 18 months.
The research presented in this paper presents an answer to the growing backlog of untested sexual assault kits (SAKs), which rely on the genetic analysis of material extracted from gynecological swabs collected from assault victims. The paper provides an overview of the current method of SAK analysis and advancements in the field regarding differential extraction and alternative separation methods, with a focus on separation by capillary zone electrophoresis. The technology that was developed through this research focuses on the vital step that involves producing an identifiable DNA profile of the perpetrator which is gained from the separation of perpetrator (male) and victim (female) DNA from the collected evidence; it was able to separate the intact sperm from whole and lysed epithelial cells in SAKS. Quantitative PCR was used to verify the collection of sperm cells by targeted amplification of male DNA.