Buccal Barr Bodies: Accuracy and Reliability in Sex Determination

Author- Sunira Chandra

Forensic dental fieldwork requires an interdisciplinary knowledge of dental science. Barr bodies are known to

arise from inactivation of x- chromosome in a female cell, so it also has been used as a reliable method for sex

determination. The objective of this study is to evaluate the reliability and accuracy Buccal Barr bodies for sex

determination. The study was conducted on 100 subjects, (50 males and 50 females) with an age range of 20 to 36 years.

The method was applied on each subject and the data was collected. After obtaining the data it was coded, analysed,

decoded, interpreted and statistically analysed. The sensitivity and specificity of buccal barr bodies was found to be 24%

and 84% respectively with an accuracy of 54%. It is concluded that buccal Barr bodies have the accuracy (54%). Hence it

can be one of the reliable parameter but more studies are required to justify role in forensic odontology for sex

determination, but certain circumstances like delay in sample staining, storage incapability can alter the results. Hence,

more samples with accurate sample collection and storage technique can provide better results.

Keywords: Forensic Science, Buccal Barr bodies, Barr body, Sex determination, Human identification, Personal

identification