Countdown to 2017: Internal Validation of the New CODIS Loci
Written by: Carolyn Steffen, Erica Romsos, Michael Coble, and Peter Vallone The original core set of 13 Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) autosomal short tandem repeat (STR) loci were selected in November 1997 and are required by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for upload of DNA profiles to the U.S. national DNA […]
Toward Validation and Implementation of the MiSeq FGx Forensic Genomics System
Submitted by Illumina Advances in massively parallel sequencing (MPS) and bioinformatics can now deliver more insight from forensic DNA samples than traditional methods have offered. Targeted MPS genotyping provides the highest resolution (at the nucleotide level) than ever before possible. MPS, also known as next generation sequencing (NGS), routinely provides economical, large volume sequencing to […]
The Living Disappeared
Submitted by: Alexa Barrett Last summer, an unprecedented number of unaccompanied children were crossing the U.S./Mexican border. The number of children crossing had grown to 54,000 in 2014, a drastic jump from the 25,000 that had crossed the year before. As detention centers overflowed, researchers, politicians, and humanitarians, began searching for ways […]
Under the Microscope – Ellen Greytak
The ISHI 26 agenda is already filling up with some great talks from amazing speakers! While the forensic community is a tight-knit group, we can always get a little closer, right? With that in mind, we asked our speakers some questions to get to know them a little better outside of their work. We’ll be […]
Highlights of the 26th International Symposium on Human Identification
Those of us lucky enough to attend the 26th International Symposium on Human Identification (ISHI) can agree that the meeting was a resounding success once again this year—plenty of outstanding workshops, presentations and posters, great networking and learning opportunities and of course fun with new and existing friends and colleagues. Now that we’ve all had […]
An Interview with Michael Baird
Michael Baird talks about the first DNA court cases. TRANSCRIPT: Well 25 years ago, it was a lot different than it is today. There were fewer companies that were doing DNA testing. The company I was with then (Lifecodes Corporation) was one of the major commercial companies doing forensic testing as well as paternity. […]
Improving Results from ‘Touch’ DNA Samples
As DNA technology has become more sensitive over the years, there has been an increase in the number of samples that laboratories are receiving with requests for DNA analysis on “touch” DNA samples. “Touch” DNA samples refer to samples where biological fluid cannot be detected, however there may be skin cells left behind due to […]
Where do You see the Field of Forensics Heading in the Next 10 Years?
We asked our ISHI 26 speakers what technologies they are most excited about or where they saw the field heading in the next 10 years. Here’s what they had to say! I hope that it will be possible to establish robust methodology and standard guidelines for next generation sequencing involving […]
An Evaluation of a New Rapid DNA Platform for Field Forward Applications
Between the years of 2005 and 2010, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) reserved $58 million to assist in the reduction of the arrestee and offender DNA backlog. Considering the limited resources available to forensic agencies, by relieving crime laboratories of the analysis of these reference samples this would allow for trained analysts to focus […]
