Modern Molecular Genetic Methods for Age Estimation in Forensics

Resumo

This article presents a review of modern molecular genetic methods for estimating the age of an individual based on the analysis of various tissue samples. Data on age estimation are given: by the rate of accumulation of mutations in mitochondrial DNA, by telomere length, by the frequency of DNA repeats, by the analysis of changes in gene expression, by estimating DNA methylation levels. The analysis of the considered sources makes it possible to conclude that the estimation of sample methylation profiles is the most promising direction of studies in order to increase the accuracy of age prediction in conditions of limited quantity and quality of the source material. The development of new mathematical models will make it possible to increase the accuracy and to decrease the average prediction error.