Genetic Diversity in Sioux Indians of South Dakota with 21 Autosomal STR Loci and Their Forensic Utility

Short Tandem Repeats are the current standard markers in DNA Forensics. They have been extensively studied in cosmopolitan populations, but not so in small isolated populations, which tend to have unique societal structures impacting their genetic diversity. This project examined 21 autosomal STR loci in Sioux Indians and used NIST data of the same loci on four major U.S. populations to make the comparisons. The study concluded that the Sioux Indians have a reduced genetic diversity at these loci, but this reduction did not compromise their utility for forensic applications for human identification. Genetic diversity analyses of individual Sioux Indian tribes suggested that a pooled database is appropriate for DNA forensic applications.