Pressure Cycling Technology (PCT) Applications for DNA Extractions from Challenging Forensic Samples

Pressure Cycling Technology (PCT) uses rapid cycles of hydrostatic pressure between ambient and ultra high levels to control biomolecular interactions. During exposures to multiple cycles of pressure, biomolecules such as nucleic acids, proteins, lipids, and small molecules can be extracted into a lysis buffer from cells and tissue, allowing for a high degree of precision, reproducibility, convenience, speed, and safety. This novel extraction method has the potential to increase the amount of template DNA recovered for PCR from aged, degraded, damaged, inhibited, or otherwise compromised forensic
samples.