mRNA profilling results indicated a relatively high prevalence of body fluids different from skin on the palmar surface of the hand and finger of the tested individuals.Blood and saliva were the most commonly observed body fluids,whereas the sporadic observation of vagina mucosa may be partly the consequence of MUC4 and HBD1 expression in other mucous membranes, like oral or nasal mucosa, found on human hands. PHF samples classified as other than skin showed significantly higher DNA yield and integrity, thus supporting the hypothesis that transfer of cellular material different from skin can be a possible explanation for the occasional recovery of quality STR profiles from handled items. A consequence of the presence of other than skin cellular material on the palmar surface to the hand of the fingers is that,similariy to secondary DNA transfer,the issue of the secondary transfer to biological material(i.e., the direct deposition on a surface of a body fluid carried by the hands of an intermediary who may,or may not,be the primary source of the same) should be taken into account in criminal investigations,especially when dealing with trace amounts of biological evidence. secondary transfer is a complex phenomenon,which is significantly affected by :the nature of primary and secondary substrates;the type of contact between surfaces;the dryness/wetness of the biological sample.many of these points could not be properly addressed in the present study,since the choice of secondary substrates(dry and wet swabs,stubs)and the type of contact applied (rubbing/tape-lifting of the whole palmar surface of the hand and fingers) were clearly not meant to reproduce real transfer scenarios.However,some interesting considerations can be made. It has been previously shown that no different in relation to transferability is found between body fluids such as blood and saliva,and that wet samples are much more likely to be transferred than dry samples.On the contrary,similar transfer rates have been described for both freshly deposited and dried skin cells.