If a person touched a surface, how long does his or her touch or their DNA or saliva last on that particular place?
In: Biology
It depends. DNA in itself is ultra stable. You can keep it in the freezer for years to decades (depending on storage conditions). In the fridge for years, though integrity may be a little off. At room temp I’d think for weeks or months. Of course I’m talking about detectable DNA, but at room temperature after months it may very degraded, but some of it may be intact and you can sequence it. Dry storage also extends lifetime drastically, so if it’s super dry it’s fine for ages. One last thing, all these things are assuming no DNAses are present, these are enzymes that degrade DNA, and let me tell you, they’re **EVERYWHERE**. So chances are if it’s on a counter top or something and people are walking around it it be completely degraded within hours or less, or maybe longer, it all depends on how much enzyme and whether it’s in liquid (enzyme can’t work in completely dried sample).
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