Universität zu Köln

Gosch, Annica ORCID: 0000-0002-3315-7587, Sendel, Sebastian, Caliebe, Amke and Courts, Cornelius ORCID: 0000-0002-9811-8482 (2025). TrACES of time: Towards estimating time-of-day of bloodstain deposition by targeted RNA sequencing. Forensic Science International: Genetics, 78. pp. 1-16. Elsevier. ISSN 1872-4973

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Abstract

[Artikel-Nr.: 103287] In forensic molecular biology, the main task consists of identifying individuals who contributed to biological traces recovered from (potential) crime scenes. However, to support evidence-based reconstruction of the course of activities having taken place at the scene, contextualising information regarding how and when a biological trace was deposited is oftentimes required. Here we present the development of a forensic molecular biological analysis procedure for the prediction of the time-of-day at which a bloodstain has been deposited by targeted quantification of selected mRNA markers. Time-of-day candidate prediction markers with diurnally rhythmic expression have previously been identified by whole transcriptome sequencing. Here, we build on our previous findings by establishing a targeted cDNA sequencing protocol on an Ion S5 massively parallel sequencing device for the targeted gene expression quantification of 69 time-of-day candidate prediction markers. Based on expression measurements of these markers in 408 blood samples (from 51 individuals deposited at eight time points over a day), we establish and compare different statistical methods to predict time of deposition. The most suitable model employing penalised regression achieved a root mean squared error of 3 h and 44 min with 78 % of predictions being correct within ± 4 h (evaluated by five-fold cross-validation), showing pronounced inter- individual differences. While the prediction accuracies of the method in its current state limit its use in the evaluative stage of a criminal trial, the method may nonetheless provide valuable information in the investi- gative phase. Our study provides the first prediction model for time-of-day of bloodstain deposition based on targeted RNA sequencing and thus represents an important step towards forensic trace deposition timing. It thereby relevantly contributes to the growing knowledge on Transcriptomic Analyses for the Contextualisation of Evidential Stains (TrACES).

Item Type:	Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Gosch, Annica UNSPECIFIED https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3315-7587 UNSPECIFIED Sendel, Sebastian UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Caliebe, Amke UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Courts, Cornelius UNSPECIFIED https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9811-8482 UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-803592
Identification Number:	10.1016/j.fsigen.2025.103287
Journal or Publication Title:	Forensic Science International: Genetics
Volume:	78
Page Range:	pp. 1-16
Number of Pages:	16
Date:	June 2025
Publisher:	Elsevier
ISSN:	1872-4973
Language:	English
Faculty:	Faculty of Medicine
Divisions:	Faculty of Medicine > Rechtsmedizin > Institut für Rechtsmedizin
Subjects:	Law Medical sciences Medicine
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language Forensic RNA analysis ; Trace contextualisation ; Targeted RNA sequencing ; Time-of-day ; Gene expression English
['eprint_fieldname_oa_funders' not defined]:	Publikationsfonds UzK
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/80359