Chimerism and Forensic DNA Profiling in Crime Cases

Abstract

An individual having two kinds of blood cell populations or two sets of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) types in different body tissues is called Chimeric and the situation is called as chimerism. This makes diagnosis and comparison of tissues for organ transplants and forensic investigations complicated and may lead to erroneous results.
A few such cases, highly publicised in the past, have been mentioned in this paper. How chimerism affects DNA profiling results in forensic science and can lead to situations where the accused may be exonerated, and a genuine offspring of one’s parents may be denied parentage has been highlighted. How chimerism can be detected, and flawless reports can be given, the challenges faced in forensic cases have been mentioned in this paper.