Investigative Genetics
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12503/21715
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Browsing Investigative Genetics by Author "Sturm, Sarah"
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Item A Novel Multiplex Assay for an Ancestry-Informative Marker (AIM) Panel of INDELs(2016-03-23) Sage, Kelly; LaRue, Bobby; King, Jonathan; Sturm, SarahThe current standard for forensic laboratories in criminal casework is to use Short Tandem Repeat (STR) markers to develop an evidentiary profile to compare with a reference profile. Commercially available STR amplification kits yield amplicons 100 to 500 base pairs (bp) in length. A common problem encountered by scientists is degraded DNA samples that are only 180-200 bps in length. These samples fail to amplify some loci and therefore produce an incomplete STR profile. STRs are used for identity testing because of their high discrimination power. However, there are cases where no STR match was obtained through a DNA database search and thus no investigative lead is obtained. The bioancestry of the donor of the sample could aid law enforcement in such cases. Another class of markers that could provide investigative value from degraded DNA samples is Ancestry-Informative Marker (AIM) Insertion/Deletions (INDELs). INDELs are polymorphisms that can be amplified from degraded samples due to their smaller amplicon size. AIMs have the ability provide bioancestry information. This project used a previously developed panel of AIM-INDEL markers to develop a multiplex PCR-based assay specifically for these identity-testing applications.Item Multiplex of INDELs for Human Identification Markers(2016-03-23) Sturm, Sarah; Thompson, Lindsey; Wiley, Rachel; King, Jonathan; LaRue, Bobby; Sage, KellyForensic laboratories commonly use short tandem repeat (STR) loci when comparing an evidentiary profile to that of a reference profile. In commercially available STR kits, the amplified products tend to range from 100- 500 base pairs (bp). For genomic DNA of degraded biological samples, the fragments are usually broken into product sizes of 180-200bps or less. Therefore, degraded biological samples may not produce a full STR profile. Another viable option has been proposed to enable successful typing of some degraded DNA samples. Insertion/ deletion (INDEL) polymorphisms are intergenic regions of the genome in which amplified products can be smaller in length than most STRs. Since forensic genotyping relies on comparison of an evidentiary sample DNA profile with that of a reference sample DNA profile, which usually come from suspects or victims, using highly discriminating markers is desirable. A multiplex panel of human identification (HID) INDEL markers that can individualize people would be beneficial. This project will test the hypothesis that INDELs, which can be used to identify individuals with high discriminatory power, can be developed as a multiplex PCR approach. In testing this hypothesis, primers were designed and multiplexed together to amplify specific INDELs that have been previously identified to be suitable for human identity testing purposes.