Gender Identification through Barr Body Analysis in Salivary Deposits on Chewing Gum: A Forensic Approach

  • Unique Paper ID: 197412
  • Volume: 12
  • Issue: 11
  • PageNo: 8290-8293
  • Abstract:
  • Gender identification plays a pivotal role in forensic investigations, particularly in scenarios where biological evidence is limited or degraded. Among various biological traces, saliva is one of the most frequently encountered at crime scenes, often found on objects such as cigarette butts, envelopes, bite marks, and chewing gum. This study explores the forensic applicability of identifying gender through the detection of Barr bodies in buccal epithelial cells present in saliva deposited on chewing gum. Barr bodies, representing inactivated X chromosomes, are typically observed in female somatic cells and absent in normal male cells, thus serving as a reliable cytological marker for sex determination. Saliva samples were indirectly collected from chewing gum chewed by individuals of known gender. Buccal epithelial cells embedded in the gum matrix were carefully extracted, smeared onto slides, fixed, and stained using appropriate staining techniques to enhance nuclear visibility. Microscopic examination was conducted to identify the presence or absence of Barr bodies. The study demonstrates that chewing gum serves as a viable and practical source of biological evidence for cytological analysis. The findings reinforce the significance of Barr body detection as a cost-effective, rapid, and reliable method for gender identification in forensic science, especially in resource-limited settings where advanced DNA analysis may not be readily accessible.

Copyright & License

Copyright © 2026 Authors retain the copyright of this article. This article is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

BibTeX

@article{197412,
        author = {Jebarson Selvaraj S and Aaqila A P and Prakash S and Dhanya R},
        title = {Gender Identification through Barr Body Analysis in Salivary Deposits on Chewing Gum: A Forensic Approach},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2026},
        volume = {12},
        number = {11},
        pages = {8290-8293},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=197412},
        abstract = {Gender identification plays a pivotal role in forensic investigations, particularly in scenarios where biological evidence is limited or degraded. Among various biological traces, saliva is one of the most frequently encountered at crime scenes, often found on objects such as cigarette butts, envelopes, bite marks, and chewing gum. This study explores the forensic applicability of identifying gender through the detection of Barr bodies in buccal epithelial cells present in saliva deposited on chewing gum. Barr bodies, representing inactivated X chromosomes, are typically observed in female somatic cells and absent in normal male cells, thus serving as a reliable cytological marker for sex determination. Saliva samples were indirectly collected from chewing gum chewed by individuals of known gender. Buccal epithelial cells embedded in the gum matrix were carefully extracted, smeared onto slides, fixed, and stained using appropriate staining techniques to enhance nuclear visibility. Microscopic examination was conducted to identify the presence or absence of Barr bodies. The study demonstrates that chewing gum serves as a viable and practical source of biological evidence for cytological analysis. The findings reinforce the significance of Barr body detection as a cost-effective, rapid, and reliable method for gender identification in forensic science, especially in resource-limited settings where advanced DNA analysis may not be readily accessible.},
        keywords = {Gender Identification, Barr Body, Saliva, Chewing Gum.},
        month = {April},
        }

Cite This Article

S, J. S., & P, A. A., & S, P., & R, D. (2026). Gender Identification through Barr Body Analysis in Salivary Deposits on Chewing Gum: A Forensic Approach. International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology (IJIRT), 12(11), 8290–8293.

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