stability of buccal swab dna quality during 14-day storage: implications for forensic and genetic analysis

In forensic dna analysis of living individuals, blood and buccal swabs are commonly used as sources of genetic material. while blood collection requires an invasive procedure that may cause discomfort, buccal swabs provide a non-invasive and painless alternative for obtaining dna samples. however, due to indonesia’s geographical landscape, the samples delivery to genetic laboratories often involves extended transit times. this study aims to evaluate the quality of dna obtained from buccal swabs by comparing results immediately after extraction with those obtained after storage. the average dna purity (a260/a280) remained relatively stable from day 0 to day 14, ranging from 1.75 to 1.96. dna concentration showed slight fluctuations, with the highest value recorded on day 14 (597.70 micrograms per milliliter) and the lowest on day 7 (516.90 micrograms per milliliter). no significant variations were observed in either dna purity or concentration over time. the findings of this study demonstrate that dna extracted from buccal swabs maintains optimal quality for up to 14 days of storage, provided optimal storage conditions are followed. this suggests that buccal swab dna exhibits stable characteristics over a defined period, supporting its use in different genetic analyses without significant degradation.