Single-Cell Technologies for DNA Analysis The SCAnDi Project

Holmes, E, Chappell, L, Dawnay, N, Brown, K and Macaulay, I (2026) Single-Cell Technologies for DNA Analysis The SCAnDi Project. The ISHI Report, 05/26.

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Abstract

Every cell leaves a trace. Cells can act as a vehicle by which our DNA is transferred from the individual to their surroundings - every day we deposit millions of cells through shedding, touch, injury and intimate contact. Each of these cells - if nucleated - contain DNA signatures that can identify us.

Reading out these signatures from individual cells could therefore represent a powerful tool in forensic science, using the cell as a “unit of transfer”. Linking DNA profiles to individual cells could enable enhanced mixture deconvolution - where one cell could be linked to one contributor - and analysis of specimens where few cells remain. And going beyond “just” DNA, linking information about the type of cell transferred with the contributor of the cell could offer information relating to the nature of the transfer, in addition to the identity of the contributors.

There are, of course, significant challenges to the generation of DNA profiles from individual cells - from cell isolation to the sensitivity and interpretation of the analysis. The UKRI ESRC funded Single-cell Analysis for DNA Intelligence (SCAnDi) project aims to address many of these challenges, working closely with forensic practitioners to explore how the last decade’s remarkable advances in single-cell technologies - which have transformed biomedical science - could translate to a forensic setting.

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	Q Science > Q Science (General) Q Science > QH Natural history > QH426 Genetics
Divisions:	Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences
Publisher:	Promega
Date of acceptance:	1 May 2026
Date of first compliant Open Access:	24 June 2026
Date Deposited:	24 Jun 2026 08:44
Last Modified:	24 Jun 2026 08:44
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/28743

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