This dissertation analyzes the history and use of the Y-chromosome in forensic genetics; it provides an empirical study of the estimates derived from the Y-chromosome used in the Forensic match calculation FST and the Y-chromosome profile probability; it presents an analysis of policy options that attempt to minimize the harms to those identified through forensic familial searching of the commercial DNA databases; and it attempts to develop a method for use of the Y-chromosome in genetic association studies.
This paper analyzes the male-specific region of the Y-chromosome that is inherited clonally from father to son, which influences the way the Y-chromosome can be used forensically and in public health genetics. The dissertation begins by laying out the history and use of the Y-chromosome in forensic genetics and the properties of a new estimator of population-specific FST on the Y-chromosome and its use in calculating the forensic match probability; it also provides a comparison of the kappa method and an evolutionary model for match probability calculation. The Y-chromosome’s recent use for forensic familial searching via commercial DNA databases is also discussed, and chapter two presents a policy analysis of forensic familial searching in those databases. The dissertation also examines associations between SNPs on the Y-chromosome and obesity in Hispanic men, adjusting for autosomal and Y-chromosome principal components, and notes that more research and experimentation is required in order to best continue with association mapping on the Y-chromosome.