Microhaplotypes (microhaps) are biomarkers fewer than 300 nucleotides long that display multiple allelic combinations. The main advantages of microhaps over conventional short tandem repeats (STRs) include the 1) absence of stutter, 2) same-size alleles within each locus, 3) lower mutation rate, and 4) ancestry informative alleles. These forensically relevant loci can yield a power of discrimination similar to STRs while enhancing human identification (HID), mixture deconvolution, and biogeographic ancestry prediction. In this presentation, the subject matter expert will discuss the current status of the research conducted in the GW-FMB lab on a new multi-function DNA marker and its potential impact to the field of forensic genetics. 

This webinar was presented by the NIJ Forensic Technology Center of Excellence on June 22, 2021.