DNA fingerprints: The importance in forensic medicine

Summary Investigation of genomic polymorphisms detected by a minisatellite named tentatively Myo, which is expected to correspond to the minisatellite in human myoglobin gene of Jeffreys et al., gives distinct and different aspects of chorionic villus and the decidual membrane in the same placenta. The chorionic villus, which is regarded as the extraembryonal tissue, represents the essential embryonal DNA fingerprint pattern, while the decidual membrane reveals the maternal one. A comparison between the DNA fingerprints from the chorion villus and from the blood sample of the suspected father provides the possibility of setting a paternity determination which can be achieved during the first trimester of a pregnancy.Dedicated to Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. mult. Otto Prokop who retires in 1987 from the chairmanship of the Institute of Forensic Medicine, Humboldt University