The Legal Medicine Research Center (LMRC) has produced a new STR typing identification kit for autosomal chromosomes with the commercial name of “IG_17Plex DRT PCR Amplification” Kit. It has 17 genomic loci, one more than “AMPF Identifiler Direct PCR Amplification Kit” of ABI company in the USA. After conducting a concordance study on more than 700 samples from different ethnic groups across the country, it was found that the LMRC kit is in full compliance with the results of the American equivalent kit. This capability will be used in the DNA database applications. In fact, the higher number of alleles in the allelic leader part of LMRC kit (247) than the similar American kit (205) makes it possible to detect more genetic diversity in the population. Both LMRC and foreign equivalents kits (American ABI and German QIAGEN) have amylogenin marker for sex determination, but misidentification of a male as female may happen when the male subject has an interstitial deletion in the Yp involving AMELY could be found in some cases. Therefore, the LMRC kit has an additional SRY marker to be more efficient in the aforementioned samples. This kit has the ability to react directly on blood and saliva samples without the need for DNA extraction process and the ability to react completely on damaged samples and very small amounts of DNA (about 70 pg) with rapid PCR technology to carry out the PCR reaction in about forty minutes, which is less than the similar American and German kits (about an hour).The purchase price of American and German kits, which were purchased over a longer period of time from uncertain routes under the current sanctions and COVID-19 restrictions, is about ten times higher than the total cost of producing LMRC kit.
Design and production of LMRC kit with all its requirements and standards based on the latest scientific criteria in the world performed at the Legal Medicine Research Center for the first time in our region and made IRAN as the fifth country in the world after USA, Germany, Russia and China who can commercially produce these types of kits.
In order to extract and identify drugs and toxins in forensic toxicology, proper homogenization of biological and non-biological samples is one of the most important diagnostic steps. The latest method of mechanical homogenization involves the use of a stator rotor, in which case the cutting blade is hidden in the stator cover and is not comparable to the blade methods in terms of safety and quality of homogenization. In this case, in addition to mechanical homogenization, the cavitation phenomenon also adds to the quality of homogenization. According to the need of forensic centers for a homogenizer, the above device was designed and built in the Legal Medicine Research Center. This device has automatic and manual homogenization programs along with the washing program, and in case of an error, the alarm system is activated and suggests to the user how to fix the error. The device is designed in both Persian and English languages and in order to facilitate operation, desirable changes have been made in the rotor and its coupling. Also, in order to increase mechanical safety, two optical sensors have been used to determine the maximum and minimum allowable movement points. In order to fully manage the homogenization process, the variables of time, engine speed, shaft speed and adjustment of the rotor movement course inside the sample container can be controlled. Also, due to the motor power and precise frequency adjustment, it is possible to perform high-speed homogenization in the long run without causing the engine to overheat. The engine has IP54 standard in terms of safety.
