NCJ Number
219973
Journal
Law Enforcement Technology Volume: 34 Issue: 7 Dated: July 2007 Pages: 42,44,51
Date Published
July 2007
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the potential for ancestry DNA to expand the number of physical features that can be determined from DNA analysis, so as to allow constructing some clear and some approximate features of an unknown DNA contributor.
Abstract
The FBI Laboratory's Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) contains more than 4.2 million forensic and convicted-offender DNA profiles. When DNA obtained from a crime scene matches DNA from an unknown offender deposited at another crime scene, the most that can be concluded is that the same person was at both crime scenes. Little help is provided in identifying the physical features of that person, other than gender. This is changing, however. Scientists are continually increasing the number of markers available for DNA analysis. Ancestry DNA analysis determines the bio-geographical ancestry of a DNA contributor. It reveals the incidence of the four major population groups--European, East Asian, Native American, and Sub-Saharan African--in a given DNA sample. A person with 95-percent European ancestry is expected to be Caucasian, for example. There are three specific areas where having ancestry information from DNA can assist investigators. It can identify the physical characteristics of an unknown DNA contributor, identify the physical characteristics of a skeletonized unknown victim, and narrow the pool of "persons of interest" based on the physical characteristics of the offender determined from DNA at the crime scene. This article briefly describes three cases in which these capabilities of ancestry DNA assisted in solving the case. In addition to determining ethnicity and associated physical features, ancestry DNA shows promise in providing information on other physical features of a DNA contributor, such as skin, hair, and eye color.