Investigative genetic genealogy: Current methods, knowledge and practice.

Investigative genetic genealogy (IGG) has emerged as a new, rapidly growing field of forensic science. We describe the process whereby dense SNP data, commonly comprising more than half a million markers, are employed to infer distant relationships. By distant we refer to degrees of relatedness exceeding that of first cousins.

An empirical investigation into the effectiveness of genetic genealogy to identify individuals in the UK.

The use of genetic genealogy techniques to identify Joseph James DeAngelo as the prime suspect in the Golden State Killer case in 2018 has opened up a new approach to investigation of cold cases. Since that breakthrough, genetic genealogy methods have been reported to be applied to around 100 cases. To date, all of these reports relate to investigations in the US, where the high uptake of "direct-to-consumer" (DTC) genetic testing by individuals conducting private ancestral research has provided the necessary publicly available data for successful forensic investigations.

Using genetic genealogy databases in missing persons cases and to develop suspect leads in violent crimes.

In the last year direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic genealogy databases have been used to identify suspects and missing persons in over fifty cold cases, many of which have been unsolved for decades. Genealogists worked on these cases in collaboration with law enforcement agencies. Raw DNA data files were uploaded to the genealogy websites GEDmatch and FamilyTreeDNA, and identification was made by tracing the family trees of relatives who were predicted to be close genetic matches in the database.

The end of donor anonymity: how genetic testing is likely to drive anonymous gamete donation out of business.

Thousands of people worldwide have been conceived using donor gametes, but not all parents tell their children of their origin. Several countries now allow donor-conceived offspring to potentially know their genetic parent if they are informed of their donor-conceived status. At the same time, personal genetic testing is a rapidly expanding field.