Research Study Title: Barr Bodies: Means of sex determination

PI: Kim Moran

Student Researcher: Julianna Jiminez

Barr Bodies are condensed, inactivated X chromosomes that are typically found exclusively in female mammals. Barr Bodies can be found in various biological samples such as hair, buccal cells, and blood. Since women have two X chromosomes, one being inactivated, a single Barr Body is present in female mammal cells while males typically have no Barr Body present since they have only one X chromosome.

For this research study, the goal is to determine the reliability of detecting Barr Bodies in blood of an unknown sample as a method to determining sex. In the forensic science community, detecting if Barr Bodies are present is a simple and noninvasive method to determining the sex of an unknown sample of forensic significance. A buccal sample or blood droplet has the potential to quickly determine whether it originated from a male or female by detecting the presence or absence of a Barr Body.

To successfully perform this experiment, 100 volunteers are needed for the study. No personal identifiers, besides the sex from which the sample came from, will be associated with the provided samples.

If you are interested in participating in the study, please CLICK HERE to provide your contact information!