Police prepare to enter a house where five people were stabbed in the early morning hours in Calgary, Alberta, April 15, 2014. Three people died on the scene of the crime while two others died in hospital. The police have one person in custody. REUTERS/To
(IN PHOTO) Police prepare to enter a house where five people were stabbed in the early morning hours in Calgary, Alberta, April 15, 2014. REUTERS/Todd Korol

It seems like the British scientists have finally put an end to the mystery that haunts police department during investigation about a case involving identical twins. The scientists have discovered a way to differentiate between identical twins, by determining the melting point of their DNA.

Investigation history of several criminal cases depicts that in a number of scenarios, police has not been able to prosecute a suspect, because of his or her being an identical twin. However, the lead researcher, Dr. Graham Williams, claims that the breakthrough discovery of matching the melting points of the DNA of the identical twins will now solve the problem.

According to the researchers, the new test will allow for differentiation between the genetic make-up of the identical twins. The DNA of the identical twins melts at a slight different temperature than each other due to lifestyle factors, including smoking or exposure to sunlight. The test thus offers an option to match the suspect's DNA with the sample recovered from the crime scene. The scientists suggest that the part of DNA, which is variable in the identical twins, could be used for comparison with the recovered DNA.

However, the researchers warn that the method is not full-proof for the quality of the DNA recovered from the crime scene might not be good. In addition, there are chances that the identical twins who have similar habits and live in the same environmental conditions might have a very few non-DNA cell or epigenetic differences, says Georgina Meakin of University College London.

While the current method for comparing the genetic make-up of the identical twins for police investigation purposes is lengthy and expensive, the new method takes just a couple of hours to show the epigenetic differences. The current method involves identification of subtle differences between the genomes of the monozygotic twins.

The research has been published in the journal Analytical Biochemistry.

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