Forensic Molecular Biomarkers for Mixture Analysis

• NCJ Number: 253979
• Author(s): Fabio Oldoni; Daniele Podini
• Date Published: July 2019
• Length: 13 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2017-DN-BX-0164
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical); Report (Study/Research); Report (Grant Sponsored); Program/Project Description
• Award: Massively parallel sequencing of 89 microhaplotypes for the selection of an operational and effective subset for forensic applications.

Annotation

This review describes novel, forensically relevant multi-SNP loci (i.e., microhaplotypes or microhaps), compound markers (i.e., DIP-STRs, SNP-STRs and DIP-SNPs) and lineage markers (i.e., rapidly mutating Y chromosome STRs) that improve the deconvolution of two and more than two-person mixtures typed using conventional STR, binary and non-binary loci.

Abstract

The deconvolution of DNA mixtures has gained the attention of forensic DNA scientists for over two decades. To enhance mixture deconvolution capabilities, a new generation of sensitive DNA-typing approaches has been recently prod. The current review explores the features and applications of these emerging molecular biomarkers with respect to their ability to forensically detect same-or-opposite sex donors. It also discusses the impact of initial massively parallel sequencing (MPS) investigations of STR, microhaplotype, and SNP/indel assays for DNA mixture profiling. (publisher abstract modified)