A computational approach for positive genetic identification and relatedness detection from low-coverage shotgun sequencing data.

Several methods exist for detecting genetic relatedness or identity by comparing DNA information. These methods generally require genotype calls, either single-nucleotide polymorphisms or short tandem repeats, at the sites used for comparison. For some DNA samples, like those obtained from bone fragments or single rootless hairs, there is often not enough DNA present to generate genotype calls that are accurate and complete enough for these comparisons.

Systematic evaluation of STRmix™ performance on degraded DNA profile data.

This study examined the DNA degradation modeling capacity of STRmix™, a widely implemented DNA interpretation software program. As a part of the CAL DOJ STRmix™ v2.4 validation, a large volume of STR profile data was generated from intact template DNA exposed to DNase I for a series of increasing time intervals.

Searching for first-degree familial relationships in California's offender DNA database: validation of a likelihood ratio-based approach.

A validation study was performed to measure the effectiveness of using a likelihood ratio-based approach to search for possible first-degree familial relationships (full-sibling and parent-child) by comparing an evidence autosomal short tandem repeat (STR) profile to California's ∼1,000,000-profile State DNA Index System (SDIS) database. Test searches used autosomal STR and Y-STR profiles generated for 100 artificial test families. When the test sample and the first-degree relative in the database were characterized at the 15 Identifiler(®) (Applied Biosystems(®), Foster City, CA) STR loci, the search procedure included 96% of the fathers and 72% of the full-siblings.