![]() ![]() Thermo Fisher Scientific’s semiconductor-based mitochondrial DNA analysis platform is being used by the FBI to generate profiles for the CODIS database. Verogen provides the MiSeq FGx Forensic Genomics System. Powerful next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology is driving many of the breakthroughs in forensic DNA testing. Options beyond STR analysis include improved software and laboratory methods to examine mitochondrial DNA, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and even whole genomes. However, STR analysis has some limitations. A set of 20 standard STR loci are included in the National DNA Index System (NDIS) and the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), databases that are used by law enforcement.īecause the number of repeats for each of the markers is inherited, sequencing multiple markers can pin down identity matches and relationships with a high degree of accuracy. ![]() Since then, forensic science has become increasingly sophisticated, adopting new techniques in molecular biology and bioinformatics to analyze and identify samples once believed too scarce, too dirty, or too damaged to be useful.Ī new generation of forensic analysis techniquesįor decades, forensic DNA testing has been done using polymerase chain reaction technology and capillary electrophoresis (CE) fragment analysis to detect length variation in short tandem repeat (STR) markers. Advances in the field of forensic DNA testing are helping to solve a broadening range of difficult cases, including unidentified persons, sexual assaults, and homicides.ĭNA testing was first used to catch and convict a murderer in 1987. ![]() At this point, Florida authorities announced that they had partnered with a new company, Othram, a DNA laboratory in Texas that provides forensic genealogy services.įorensic genealogy is just one of several new DNA-based techniques that are helping authorities continue investigations that defy conventional approaches, or even reopen investigations that were suspended long ago. And Ben’s DNA samples, which prompted searches through the usual databases, failed to yield any hits. Two years after Ben’s body was found, conventional investigative tools-fingerprints, witness statements, and missing persons reports-led nowhere. ![]() In this image, Othram scientists review forensic genome sequencing data from a recent sequencing run. Othram, a company specializing in the recovery, enrichment, and analysis of human DNA from trace amounts of degraded or contaminated materials, asserts that it is the first and only forensic laboratory to vertically integrate a genome-wide test and a human identification solution. ![]()
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