ORIGINAL ARTICLE The use of FTA cards to acquire DNA profiles from postmortem cases Henrik Green 1,2 & Andreas Tillmar 1,3 & Gisela Pettersson 4 & Kerstin Montelius 1 Received: 27 August 2018 / Accepted: 1 February 2019 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2019 Abstract Filter papers have been used for many years in different applications of molecular biology and have been proven to be a stable way to store DNA waiting to be analyzed. Sampling of DNA on FTA (Flinders Technology Associates) cards is convenient and cost effective compared to alternative approaches involving DNA extractions and storage of DNA extracts. FTA cards are analyzed at many forensic laboratories, and the way to perform direct genetic profiling on buccal swab cards has developed into an almost industrial process. The possibility to include postmortem (PM) samples into an FTA-based workflow would facilitate and speed up the genetic identification process compared to conventional methods, both on a regular basis and in a mass casualty event. In this study, we investigated if FTA cards may be used to carry tissue DNA from deceased and present a high- quality DNA profile from the individual in order to be useful for the identification process. The study also aimed to investigate if a specific body tissue would be preferable, and if decomposed tissue is suitable at all to put on an FTA card in order to obtain a DNA profile. We have compared the quality of the DNA profiles acquired from postmortem tissue on FTA cards, with the results acquired with conventional methods from reference bone/muscle samples from the same individual. Several types of tissues have been tested from different identification cases and scenarios. We concluded that tissue cells from inner organs are suitable to put on FTA cards, and that the obtained DNA profiles have the potential to serve as PM data for identification purposes. In cases including compromised samples, however, it is recommended to keep the tissue sample as a backup if further DNA has to be extracted. Keywords DNA . FTA . Postmortem . Disaster victim identification . Mass disaster . Human identification Introduction There are several brands of filter paper on the market with specific affinity for DNA. They have been used on a routine basis for many years including various applications in molec- ular biology, and tests have been performed to check the sta- bility and the quality of the filter paper as well as the DNA stored [ 1 ]. One example of cards is FTA ® (Flinders Technology Associates) cards, also referred to as fast technol- ogy analysis [2]. The card is submerged with chemicals disrupting the cells collected on the paper, leaving the DNA exposed for further investigation. This type of sample carrier has many advantages when it comes to transportation and storage as well as costs and laboratory performance. There are many examples of investigations performed on a variety of species where FTA cards have been proven a useful carrier of samples prior to analysis, for example, stork hybrids in Malaysia [3], Mycobacterium leprae [4], swine fever virus in Tanzania [5], and Candida infections [6]. FTA cards have also been proven suitable for storage and transportation of fresh tumor cells [7] and have been in wide use for forensic pur- poses for many years. The process to perform genetic profiling on buccal swabs has developed into an almost industrial way of carefully but efficiently identifying an individual’ s unique DNA profile. Nowadays, sampling on FTA cards provides a basis for either kinship analysis or forensic analysis all over the world. One approach of the forensic work is identification of the unknown deceased; missing person identification. * Kerstin Montelius Kerstin.montelius@gmail.com 1 Department of Forensic Genetics and Forensic Toxicology, National Board of Forensic Medicine, Artillerigatan 12, 587 58 Linköping, Sweden 2 Division of Drug Research, Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden 3 Division of Cell Biology, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden 4 Department of Forensic Medicine, Division of Forensic Medicine Umeå, National Board of Forensic Medicine, Analysvägen, 901 85 UMEÅ, Sweden International Journal of Legal Medicine https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-019-02015-2