The Use of MiniSTRs as Tools for the Investigation of DNA Degradation and Inhibition

This project will build on the work previously performed under award 2002-IJ-CX-K007, which demonstrated the utility of miniSTRs for analysis of degraded or compromised DNA evidence. The principal investigator (in conjunction with Dr. John Butler from NIST) has shown these miniSTR sets to be highly robust and capable of results that are compatible with commercial kits. While the validation process of these markers has begun, further tests are needed to examine their application to non-routine forensic samples such as bone, hair, fingernail scrapings, and low copy number DNA. A wider ranging population study is also needed to examine the application of MiniSTRs in the analysis of Asian and other population groups not analyzed in the previous population studies. ca/ncf