Population Genetics of SNPs for Forensic Purposes

The goal of this project is to perform the population genetics research required to develop two panels of autosomal single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs): one that can be used for identification of individuals and one for determining biological ancestry. The laboratory of Dr. Kenneth Kidd has samples from over 2000 individuals from 41 populations. This project will perform massive screening for hundreds of SNPs in these population samples to establish a panel of SNPs with low variation in allele frequencies among populations (for identity determination) and a panel of SNPs with high variation in allele frequencies among populations (for biological ancestry determination). The deliverable will be A battery of autosomal SNPs that can augment traditional DNA profiling data and provide additional information about the source of the DNA evidence.

Objectives:

1. Screen, from existing data on four populations, over 67,000 SNPs to select those with potential forensic applications.
2. Perform a second screen involving typing seven additional populations for the best 600 SNP markers as determined in objective #1.
3. Analyze a total of 2000 samples from several populations using the most suitable 260 SNP markers as determined in objective #2.
4. Use this information to develop two forensic panels for identification of individuals and determination of the biological ancestry.

ca/ncf