Estimating of age and geographical origin, and testing of DNA using a single tooth

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24590849
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Legal medicine
• Research Institution: Chiba University
• Principal Investigator: Saitoh Hisako 千葉大学, 医学(系)研究科(研究院), 准教授 (10292674)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): Yajima Daisuke 千葉大学, 大学院医学研究院, 特任准教授 (60451754) ; Nagasawa Sayaka 千葉大学, 大学院医学研究院, 特任助教 (30536735)
• Research Collaborator: Kanar Alkass ; Henrik Druid
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 歯 / ラセミ化 / 放射性炭素 / DNA / 山形大学 / AMS

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Unfortunately, Japan has a lot of disasters and unidentified dead bodies. We have to do personal identification for unidentified dead bodies.
Carbon-14 (14C) method is useful for birth dating. Carbon-13 (13C) and other stable isotopes will give clues to the geographical origin. Aspartic acid racemization shows the age at death.DNA testing shows the sex determination, and identification.
Therefore, in this study, we have studied about the estimation of birth dating by radiocarbon, geographical origin by stable isotopes and age at death by aspartic acid racemization using a single tooth. The information of a birth dating, age at death and sex determination and DNA types using teeth could get to identify the remains. It wasn’t possible to research about geographical origin because of a lack of money and time. My future direction is that one single tooth will give us those information.

Free Research Field

歯科法医学