Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

Introduction: Physician assisted death is still controversial worldwide. It represents an ethical dilemma that confronts the patient's autonomy on his right to decide how to face his death; with the physician's conception of his role in the care process and treatment at the end of life of patients. Objective: to realize the attitude and knowledge of Honduran physicians and to identify the reasons why they agree or disagree with its legalization and application. Methodology: Descriptive study, non-probabilistic sampling, in medical students, general practitioners and specialists of Honduras, sample calculated at 378, for a confidence level of 95% and margin of error of 5%. It was carried out by means of a self-completion online questionnaire, elaborated in Google Forms®. Participants were asked for their informed consent and the information was handled anonymously, not linked. Results: 31.02% said they did not agree with the legalization of either euthanasia or physician assisted suicide, 29.23% said they were in favor of legalizing both, 29.23% only euthanasia, 1.02% only physician assisted suicide, 9.48% did not answer or did not know. Differences were found with respect to age (p=0.005), marital status (p=0.001) and religious affiliation (p=0.001), but not with respect to profession (p=0.704) or sex (p=0.072). When asked if they had considered applying MMA to a suffering patient, 68.21% stated that they had not, but 60.26% would use it if the suffering patient were themselves or a close relative. Conclusion: In Honduras physicians assisted suicide is illegal, although is essential to know the medical perspective regarding it.

Background: Informed consent is based on the principle of personal autonomy, the moral conception of respect for the dignity of the human being and therefore on his freedom. The rest of the universal bioethical principles are articulated in the informed consent process: non-maleficence, justice, and beneficence. Objective: Establish the situations in which it is pertinent to apply informed consent in the taking of postmortem samples from a bioethical approach versus a legal approach. Methodology: A review was carried out in: SCIELO, LILACS, IBECS, CUMED, NIH, Repository of the Pan American Health Organization; using keywords: informed consent, human rights, autonomy, bioethics, autopsy, post-mortem samples and forensic doctors and a combination of these. The inclusion criteria: articles with a maximum age of five years, in Spanish and English with free access. Results: 113 articles were obtained using the keywords and their combinations, plus another 43 additional records identified from other sources such as laws, regulations, etc. By eliminating the sources: duplicates, not relevant, disabled, and incomplete, a total of 49 articles were worked on. Conclusions: There is a need to include in the national and international ethical guidelines that regulate scientific research and guidelines to follow on the completion of the informed consent process in studies that involve postmortem samples, after their primary use.

Introduction: Colloid cysts of the third ventricle are rare, forensic evaluation must determine their relationship with the mechanism of death1. Description of the case: A 30-year-old woman, diabetic, who was admitted due to neurological deterioration and died five days later, an autopsy was performed. Relevant findings: Coronal slices of the brain show severe edema, ventricular obliteration, and evidence of brain death. In the third ventricle there was an ovoid lesion measuring 2.5 x 2.5 x 2cm, with a smooth, light brown surface (Fig. 1-A, marked with an arrow). On cut, the lesion was cystic with dark brown mucosal material (Fig. 1-B). Microscopically, it was lined with cuboidal epithelium (Fig. 2-A). The wall had rupture evidenced by chronic inflammation and cholesterol crystals. The content was eosinophilic, granular material mixed with erythrocytes (Fig. 2-B). Conclusion: Colloid cyst is the intermediate cause of death as it produces obstruction in the circulation of cerebrospinal fluid due to cerebral edema. The direct cause of death was acute pontine infarction due to basilar thrombosis associated with sepsis. The colloid cyst is the direct cause of death when it moves and produces ventricular dilatation with brain herniation, hemorrhage, or enlargement, with the same effects1,2. Reports of its indirect association with the mechanism of death are not common.

Justification: The role of women in the scientific area has grown over the years, but there is still a large gender gap in science. To understand and manage this gap, it is necessary to map the situation of female researchers in Honduras. Objective: To describe the participation and contributions of Honduran female researchers in the national scientific production according to their profile in Google Scholar. Methodology: The tool Power BI was used to analyze the variables sex, institution, H index, number of citations, number of publications, year of first publication, and research areas registered in their profile, based on version 2 of the Ranking of Honduran Researchers according to their Google Scholar Profile available at https://bit.ly/38s6YuT, which is a curated registry. Results: 35% of the profiles were women, 41% linked to medical and health sciences and the majority (92%) affiliated with universities. Despite the growing number of Honduran female researchers registered in Google Scholar, this growth is not symmetrical with that of male researchers. Only 3.1% of the women in the database have an H index that exceeds two digits. Conclusion: Despite the advances, gender inequity remains between Honduran scientists according to Google Scholar data. Public and institutional policies are required to correct this gap.

Introduction: The Latin American Society of Forensic Genetics, since 2003, organizes collaborative interlaboratory comparison exercises in order to support the strengthening of forensic genetics laboratories in Latin America. Objective: Present the results of the analysis of the quality exercise corresponding to the year 2022. Methodology: a practical exercise was designed with five samples: two buccal swabs (M1 and M2), a blood sample in FTA (M3), a mixed sample of blood-semen in FTA (M4) and a bone remainder (M5), the SLAGF quality exercise being the only group that includes bone samples in its quality exercise. A theoretical exercise with six cases was also sent; two contained a mutation in a specific marker, one consisted of a maternal exclusion, another of a paternal exclusion, a trio simple paternity and a case of missing person identification, with reference samples from a presumed daughter; his mother and grandmother and paternal uncles, the theoretical exercises are available at: http://slagf.org/resultados-control-slagf-2022/x Results: 16 laboratories and five experts participated. In the practical exercise, the mixture samples and the bone remains presented the greatest challenges, the consensus per sample was 100% for M1, 93.75% for M2, 87.5% for M3, 0% for M4 and of 75% for M5. Conclusion: the challenges faced by Latin American forensic genetics laboratories, reflected by this exercise, are similar to those encountered by other groups that carry out quality exercises in forensic genetics.

En enero del 2023 la Sociedad Latinoamericana de Genética Forense (SLAGF), arribo a sus 20 años. Concebida a fines del año 2002 por un pequeño grupo de expertos en genética forense de la región, la SLAGF nació en enero de 2003. A la fecha, la SLAGF cuenta con Delegados de 19 (diecinueve) países de Latinoamérica, quienes son elegidos cada 2 años por los socios de cada país -que ya superan los 500-, y un presidente, que actualmente es Ixchel de la Luz Martínez, de México. Los países representados son: Argentina, Bolivia, Brasil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, México, Nicaragua, Panamá, Paraguay, Perú, República Dominicana, Uruguay y Venezuela. Los nombres y demás datos de delegados pueden consultarse en www.slagf.org, así como también los cursos y actividades programadas. Si bien estos 20 años no han sido sencillos para nuestra profesión, la SLAGF se ha transformado en un bastión fundamental que apoya a los laboratorios de genética forense de la región en la compleja tarea de cooperar con la administración de Justicia, y todos los socios confiamos en continuar mejorando cada día.

The death of a colleague in the workplace marks a change in the structures where he worked and in the performance of those alleged, so institutions should try to focus their resources on investing not only in talent training, but in address intrinsic processes of employees that guarantee their emotional well-being. Institutions are required to become aware and make changes that involve the identification of risk factors in the mental health of their workers, promoting spaces for expression and managing processes based on individual needs.

Introduction: In Colombia, the wildlife species trade without the necessary documentation is banned by law, so in the context of a criminal investigation into the sale of reptiles over the Internet, as part of a search procedure, the scene was processed. Objective: To make the most probable taxonomic assignment using genetic analysis in biological samples collected from the scene to establish the presence of reptiles, given the absence of animals at the time of the search. Methods: Six biological samples, including a skin shedding, surface swabbing and fecal samples were collected for their subsequent processing in the laboratory following the established analysis protocols.  DNA extraction was performed using a silica-based DNA isolation method and a 12S-120bp mitochondrial marker was amplified; the resulting fragments were sequenced and the sequences were compared with the information available in the Genbank database using the BLASTn algorithm. Results and discussion: Based on the data obtained from the comparison, 100% coverage and 100% identity, and after analyzing the characteristics of each taxonomic group and the available genetic information, the taxonomic assignment was made. In the skin shedding sample, difficulties were found for the amplification and sequencing of the entire fragment, which limited the use of larger markers, however, from the information obtained, the species identification for Boa constrictor (common boa) was achieved; In the case of feces samples and swabbing, the presence of DNA from taxonomic groups commonly used for feeding some reptile species such as Mus musculus (common house mouse) and the genus Rattus (rat species) was determined. Conclusion: The 12S-120bp mitochondrial marker used in this case was successful for obtaining sequences from forensic samples; however, the use of any marker for taxonomic assignment depends largely on the information available and the characteristics of each taxonomic group.

Introduction: The increase in the sensitivity of the techniques used has made it possible to obtain genetic profiles from DNA traces that have been deposited through contact before, during or after the commission of the investigated acts. On the other hand, accidental contamination of biological evidence, with the consequent misinterpretation of genetic results, has important consequences in the judicial process. Due to this, minimizing the contamination that can be generated during some of the phases of collection or genetic analysis, as well as the detection of these events, is a priority for forensic laboratories. Objective: analyze the available bibliography regarding DNA traces, the different types of transfer and contamination that can be obtained in evidence. Methodology: the search was carried out in PubMed, from the National Institute of Health (NIH), and Google Scholar using the keywords touch DNA, DNA transfer, Contamination, Traces, DNA-TTPR, DNA persistence, Contaminated genetic profiles. The search was carried out in both Spanish and English. Results: More than 500 papers related to the topic proposed in this review were found. The selection criteria were the number of citations, the approach and the impact of the papers. Seventy articles were analyzed in which the composition of the contact samples and the origin of the genetic material they contain were evaluated. In addition, the collection methodologies, analysis of these samples, the importance of DNA transfer and contamination in different possible scenarios. Conclusions: there is a risk of DNA transfer that can lead to erroneous results, therefore it is important to ensure that practice procedures are updated and adequate training is provided to ensure that police and evidence collectors are aware of the risks of contamination and the different mechanisms of transferring genetic material.

The Forensic Anthropology brings elements that contribute to the victims and their families find the truth, justice, memory, reparation and reconciliation. The purpose of this article is to recognize the importance of providing solutions to the families of people who have disappeared due to human, environmental, migratory causes, among others, and who over time have not received prompt justice. It supposes a small context about the advances that have been made in Honduras in the matter, in order to urgently create a Missing Persons Law and a program that incorporates the creation of Forensic Anthropology teams and the necessary international support for the recognition of missing persons.