Review
Forensically informative nucleotide sequencing (FINS) for the authentication of Chinese medicinal materials
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* Corresponding author: Pang-Chui Shaw pcshaw@cuhk.edu.hk
1 State Key Laboratory of Phytochemistry and Plant Resources in West China (CUHK), Institute of Chinese Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong SAR, China
2 School of Chinese Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
3 School of Life Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong SAR, China
Chinese Medicine 2011, 6:42 doi:10.1186/1749-8546-6-42
Published: 9 December 2011Abstract
Chinese medicinal materials may be authenticated by molecular identification. As a definitive approach to molecular identification of medicinal materials, forensically informative nucleotide sequencing (FINS) comprises four steps, namely (1) DNA extraction from biological samples, (2) selection and amplification of a specific DNA fragment, (3) determination of the sequence of the amplified DNA fragment and (4) cladistic analysis of the sample DNA sequence against a DNA database. Success of the FINS identification depends on the selection of DNA region and reference species. This article describes the techniques and applications of FINS for authenticating Chinese medicinal materials.