In the last 10 years, forensic genetic analysis has been extended beyond identification tests that link a suspect to crime scene evidence using standard DNA profiling, to new supplementary tests that can provide information to investigators about a suspect in the absence of a database hit or eyewitness testimony. These tests now encompass the prediction of physical appearance, ancestry and age. In this review, we give a comprehensive overview of the full range of DNA-based ancestry inference tests designed to work with forensic contact traces, when the level of DNA is often very low or highly degraded. We outline recent developments in the design of ancestry-informative marker sets, forensic assays that use capillary electrophoresis or massively parallel sequencing, and the statistical analysis frameworks that examine the test profile and compares it to reference population variation. Three casework ancestry analysis examples are described which were successfully accomplished in the authors’ laboratory, where the ancestry information obtained was critical to the outcome of the DNA analyses made.
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September 2021
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This issue of Emerging Topics in Life Sciences: Advances in Forensic Science explores emerging analytical tools and how they might be implemented by forensic scientists and communicated within the justice system.
Review Article|
May 05 2021
The analysis of ancestry with small-scale forensic panels of genetic markers
Christopher Phillips;
Forensic Genetics Unit, Institute of Forensic Sciences, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago, Spain
Correspondence: Christopher Phillips (c.phillips@mac.com)
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Maria de la Puente
Maria de la Puente
Forensic Genetics Unit, Institute of Forensic Sciences, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago, Spain
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
February 03 2021
Revision Received:
April 07 2021
Accepted:
April 19 2021
Online ISSN: 2397-8562
Print ISSN: 2397-8554
© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Portland Press Limited on behalf of the Biochemical Society and the Royal Society of Biology
2021
Emerg Top Life Sci (2021) 5 (3): 443–453.
Article history
Received:
February 03 2021
Revision Received:
April 07 2021
Accepted:
April 19 2021
Citation
Niamh Nic Daeid, Lucina Hackman, Christopher Phillips, Maria de la Puente; The analysis of ancestry with small-scale forensic panels of genetic markers. Emerg Top Life Sci 24 September 2021; 5 (3): 443–453. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/ETLS20200327
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