Saliva: An Expert Witness

The recent advances in molecular biology have revolutionized all aspects of medical fields. DNA, the language of life yields information beyond our imagination, both in health or disease. DNA is an excellent means for identification of unidentified human remains. It is frequently used to acquire information from biological material to aid investigations associated with criminal offences, disaster victim identification and missing persons. The technical advances in molecular biology have propelled the analysis of the DNA into routine usage in crime laboratories for rapid and early diagnosis. DNA analysis is important for different types of research in biomedical and forensic science, in which DNA isolation is the foremost and a mandatory step. Although DNA may have to be isolated from different sources for forensic purposes such as semen, stains, hair, bones and blood samples, but saliva has long been known for its diagnostic value in several diseases and is a non invasive method which has also a potential to be used in forensic science. So, this paper aims for DNA based analysis from human saliva for identification in the field of forensics.