NCJ Number
248148
Journal
Forensic Science International Genetics Volume: 12 Dated: September 2014 Pages: 107-119
Date Published
September 2014
Length
13 pages
Annotation
In order to obtain information on the potential of next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies for short tandem repeat (STR) typing of highly degraded forensic specimens in particular, this study evaluated a workflow based on miniSTR amplicons and the Roche 454 platform.
Abstract
The study concludes that regardless of the challenges encountered and the need for additional work both at the assay-development and data-analysis stages, the results obtained demonstrate the potential of NGS for multiplexed sample and STR sequencing from authentic casework material. The ability to simultaneously type and sequence numerous markers with small, overlapping size ranges is likely to be one of the greatest benefits of NGS in forensic applications, given the highly compromised sample types regularly encountered in casework. Even with small multiplexes and severely compromised samples, large quantities of discriminatory data were recovered in a single NGS run, both in terms of the number of markers typed and the sequence variation detected. Among the 48 STRs typed on skeletal remains of highly variable quality, the recovered data and resulting aligned reads revealed allele recovery exceeding that of the commercially available STR kits. In addition, sequence variation that in some cases doubled the number of represented alleles introduces an opportunity for discrimination not possible with standard CE-based STR typing. Additional multiplexing that also maintains high data quality is the logical next step. 4 tables, 3 figures, and 58 references