Developmental validation of the MiSeq FGx Forensic Genomics System for Targeted Next Generation Sequencing in Forensic DNA Casework and Database Laboratories.

Human DNA profiling using PCR at polymorphic short tandem repeat (STR) loci followed by capillary electrophoresis (CE) size separation and length-based allele typing has been the standard in the forensic community for over 20 years. Over the last decade, Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) matured rapidly, bringing modern advantages to forensic DNA analysis. The MiSeq FGx™ Forensic Genomics System, comprised of the ForenSeq™ DNA Signature Prep Kit, MiSeq FGx™ Reagent Kit, MiSeq FGx™ instrument and ForenSeq™ Universal Analysis Software, uses PCR to simultaneously amplify up to 231 forensic loci in a single multiplex reaction.

Massively parallel sequencing of forensically relevant single nucleotide polymorphisms using TruSeq™ forensic amplicon.

The TruSeq™ Forensic Amplicon library preparation protocol, originally designed to attach sequencing adapters to chromatin-bound DNA for chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (TruSeq™ ChIP-Seq), was used here to attach adapters directly to amplicons containing markers of forensic interest. In this study, the TruSeq™ Forensic Amplicon library preparation protocol was used to detect 160 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), including human identification SNPs (iSNPs), ancestry, and phenotypic SNPs (apSNPs) in 12 reference samples. Results were compared with those generated by a second laboratory using the same technique, as well as to those generated by whole genome sequencing (WGS).

High-quality and high-throughput massively parallel sequencing of the human mitochondrial genome using the Illumina MiSeq.

Mitochondrial DNA typing in forensic genetics has been performed traditionally using Sanger-type sequencing. Consequently sequencing of a relatively-large target such as the mitochondrial genome (mtGenome) is laborious and time consuming. Thus, sequencing typically focuses on the control region due to its high concentration of variation.

Single nucleotide polymorphism typing with massively parallel sequencing for human identification.

The Ion AmpliSeq™ HID single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) panel, a primer pool of 103 autosomal SNPs and 33 Y-SNPs, was evaluated using the Ion 314™ Chip on the Ion PGM™ Sequencer with four DNA samples. The study focused on the sequencing of DNA at three different initial target quantities, related interpretation issues, and concordance of results with another sequencing platform, i.e.

Extraction platform evaluations: a comparison of AutoMate Express™, EZ1® Advanced XL, and Maxwell® 16 Bench-top DNA extraction systems.

The DNA extraction performance of three low-throughput extraction systems was evaluated. The instruments and respective chemistries all use a similar extraction methodology that involves binding DNA to a coated magnetic resin in the presence of chaotropic salt, washing of the resin to remove undesirable compounds, and elution of DNA from the particles in a low-salt solution. The AutoMate Express™ (Life Technologies Corporation, Carlsbad, CA), EZ1® Advanced XL (Qiagen Inc.

Multiplex short tandem repeat amplification of low template DNA samples with the addition of proofreading enzymes.

With <100 pg of template DNA, routine short tandem repeat (STR) analysis often fails, resulting in no or partial profiles and increased stochastic effects. To overcome this, some have investigated preamplification methods that include the addition of proofreading enzymes to the PCR cocktail. This project sought to determine whether adding proofreading polymerases directly in the STR amplification mixture would improve the reaction when little template DNA is available.