U.S. flag
      An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.
        Here's how you know
      Here's how you know**Official websites use .gov**
            
            A **.gov** website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
      **Secure .gov websites use HTTPS**
            
            A **lock** (
            A locked padlock
            ) or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Menu

      
        close

            
            
                                              About NIJ
        
                    
  
          About NIJ
      
    
          The NIJ Director
          How NIJ Is Organized
          Mission and Guiding Principles
          Research and Development Process
          Strategic Framework
          Assessments of NIJ
          Annual Reports & Reports to Congress
          Staff Directory
          Funding & Awards
        
                    
  
          Funding & Awards
      
    
          Current Funding
          Forthcoming Funding
          Expired Funding
          Awards: Listing of Funded Projects
          Guidance for Applicants and Awardees
          Fellowship & Student Programs
          Travel Scholarships
          NIJ Challenge Program
          Library & Multimedia
        
                    
  
          Library & Multimedia
      
    
          NIJ Journal
          Podcasts
          Publications Listing
          Multimedia Listing
          Rated Practices on CrimeSolutions
          Rated Programs on CrimeSolutions
          Software & Databases
          Datasets
          Patents
          Topics
        
                    
  
          Topics
      
    
          Article Listing
          Corrections
          Courts
          Crime Prevention
          Crimes
          Drugs and Crime
          Equipment and Technology
          Forensic Sciences
          Youth Justice
          Justice System Reform
          Law Enforcement
          Tribal Crime and Justice
          Victims of Crime
          Events
        
                    
  
          Events
      
    
          NIJ 2024 Research Conference
          Scheduled Events
          On-Demand Events
          Research Meetings & Workshops
          NIJ-Hosted Online Training

                            
                                About
          Contact Us
          Subscribe
          Topics A-Z
                  Share
FacebookXLinkedInRedditPinterestEmail Home
                            Funding & Awards
 Use of Novel Chemistry & Microwave Instrumentation to ImproveBody Fluid Assay Sensitivity & Speed while Reducing Costs
Award Information
Awardee
              City of New York, Office of Chief Medical Examiner
Award #
              2012-DN-BX-K044
Funding Category
              Competitive
Location
                    New York, NY
Congressional District
              11
Status
              Closed
Funding First Awarded
              2012
Total funding (to date)
              $403,671
Original Solicitation
              NIJ FY 12 Applied Research and Development in Forensic Science for Criminal Justice Purposes
Description of original award (Fiscal Year 2012, $403,671)
Body fluid identification plays a vital role in forensic investigations contributing to both case evidence as well as directing the course of further investigations - particularly with respect to sexual assaults. Yet the methods used for body fluid detection have, for the most part, failed to keep pace with scientific and technological advances. As a consequence, current testing is a diverse mixture of techniques that vary dramatically in sensitivity, reproducibility, speed and cost. Most are not confirmatory, and there are many body fluids for which no routine tests are currently available, e.g. menstrual blood and vaginal fluid. With the aid of previous NIJ support, we developed a proteomic mass spectrometry (MS) assay for blood, saliva and semen. This single test is confirmatory and can automatically identify any one of these body fluids in an unknown sample without a priori knowledge of what they might be. Species identification is also automatically determined. Our current system can process ~ 750 samples per week (see 2.3 Preliminary Results). Many more samples could be processed, but trypsin digestion of proteins, a prerequisite for nearly all MS assays, requires overnight incubation. We have also developed confirmatory assays for menstrual blood, vaginal fluid as well as body fluid mixtures. These tests, however, require protein purification prior to MS and consequently require significantly more time. Recently, advances in protein chromatography and microwave technology (see Research Design & Methods) have made significant gains not only in dramatically reducing sample preparation and digestion times (in some cases from days to minutes), but also improving the quality of analytes and consequently, test results. In 2009 the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner processed a total of 68,159 samples for body fluid identification (11,756 Kastle-Meyer presumptive blood tests, 6,961 amylase presumptive saliva tests, and 12,035 AP presumptive and 12,719 sperm searches or p30 tests. This type of consecutive testing is time and sample consuming, and expensive. We are beginning validation testing of our MS assay. The overarching goal of this application is to test and evaluate these new technologies and integrate them into our current assays in order to make them faster, more accurate, more sensitive and less expensive. In addition, we plan to evaluate the simultaneous extraction of protein and DNA from samples in order to conserve sample use, as well as incorporate liquid handling robotics into our assay workflow. We believe that the proposed work directly addresses both the applied research and developmental goals outlined in the NIJ solicitation. With regard to applied research, our work will systematically use scientific methods to evaluate the chemical properties of body fluid marker proteins with respect to their ability to bind to and be enriched by a novel protein chromatography matrix, which, if successful, will improve marker detection sensitivity while reducing assay time and costs. With regard to developmental goals, this work aims to integrate new chemistries and instrumentation into a single, semi-automated high-throughput robotic assay system for the detection of both simple (blood, saliva and semen) and complex (menstrual blood & vaginal fluid) body fluids as well as body fluid mixtures. If successful, this assay system will be more sensitive and less expensive than current methods, and we believe become the standard for body fluid testing. ca/ncf



  
Grant-Funded Publications
        
                      Use of Novel Chemistry & Microwave Instrumentation To Improve Body Fluid Assay Sensitivity & Speed While Reducing Costs

  
Date Created: August 22, 2012
    
          Side navigation
  

        

  
  
              Current Funding
    
      
            
            
            
      Forthcoming Funding
    
      
            
            
            
      Expired Funding
    
      
            
            
            
      Awards: Listing of Funded Projects
    
      
            
            
            
      Guidance for Applicants and Awardees
    
      
            
            
            
      Fellowship & Student Programs
    
      
            
            
            
      Travel Scholarships
    
      
            
            
            
      NIJ Challenge ProgramSimilar Awards
        
                      Recovery and Analysis of Less Volatile Components for the Identification of Ignitable Liquid Residues in Fire Debris - Continuation of current NIJ-funded project (2020-DQ-BX-0003)
                  Quantitative Assessment of Fracture Characteristics in Blunt Force Skeletal Trauma for Forensic Interpretations
                  An Examination of the Law Enforcement Role in Implementing Extreme Risk Protection Orders
 Top

      National Institute of Justice

        
        
                        About NIJ
                    About NIJ
      
    
                  How NIJ Is Organized
      
    
                  NIJ Director
      
    
                  Research Disclaimer
      
    
                  Funding & Awards
                    Funding & Awards Home
      
    
                  Awards Listing
      
    
                  Current Funding
      
    
                  Guidance for Applicants and Awardees
      
    
                  Resources
                    Events
      
    
                  Podcasts
      
    
                  Publications
      
    
                  Topics
      
    
                  Multimedia
      
    
                  Reuse Policy
      
    
                  Contacts
                    Contact NIJ
      
    
                  Staff Directory
      
    
                  Submit a FOIA Request
      
    
                  File a Civil Rights ComplaintFacebook
          
                      X
          
                      YouTube
  

      810 7th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20531
      
              Secondary Footer link menu
            Accessibility
              Plain Language
              Privacy Policy
              Legal Policies and Disclaimer
              No FEAR Act
              Freedom of Information Act
              USA.gov
              Justice.gov