Determining the Size of the D18S51 Long Alleles Observed in the Costa Rican Population using Commercial Genotyping Kits with STRs
As previously reported, the Costa Rican population exhibits long alleles (not included in commercial allelic ladders) at the STR D18S51 locus, ranging from 28 to 40 Repetitions. These alleles were described using the PowerPlex®16 and AmpFLSTR™ Identifiler™. With the arrival of new commercial kits, it is necessary to identify these long alleles in D18S51 […]
Root-Cause Analysis: An Essential Step in the Management of Nonconformity
Considering that an Integrated Quality Management System is prone to continuous improvement, the occurrence of non-conformities within processes evaluated by external or internal authorities is inevitable. Therefore, the treatment of non-conformities should be carried out with objectivity and relevance and analyzing these causes and focusing on the root cause is critical. Only when the root […]
Rapid DNA Identification: Conception Boat Fire
In the early morning hours of September 2, 2019, a fire started in Santa Barbara County, just off the coast of Santa Cruz Island, on the Conception Dive boat with 39 passengers and crew on board. Five crew members were rescued and the remaining crew member and passengers located below deck when the fire started […]
STRmix & CODIS: LAPD Software Solutions
With the increasing adoption of probabilistic genotyping software for forensic DNA mixture analysis, the need for methods to upload and perform comparisons for deconvolutions has risen. LAPD has developed internal solutions and methods to develop profiles suitable for CODIS upload from STRmix deconvolution results as well as software tools to aid analysts in comparing possible […]
Forensic Scientist of Note: Walther Parson
One of the most familiar names in forensic genomics is Dr. Walther Parson. An Associate Professor at the Institute of Legal Medicine at the Medical University of Innsbruck, his resume is long and is filled with many notable accomplishments. He supervised the establishment of the Austrian National DNA Database Laboratory in 1997, where he currently […]
Predicting Facial Morphology Using DNA Phenotyping
When trying to identify a perpetrator of a crime, phenotyping is another tool that investigators have to generate leads and narrow down suspects. Susan Walsh, Assistant Professor at IUPUI, describes what traits can currently be predicted based on DNA evidence and the direction she’s researching next. She also shares advice for others considering a career […]
Identifying the Victims of the Conception Boat Fire
On Labor Day, 2019, The Conception caught fire on the last day of a 3-day diving trip off of the coast of California. Tragically, all 33 passengers and 1 crew member perished in the fire. In this interview, Kimberly Gin, Coroner at the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office shares how she and a Deputy Coroner […]
Identifying the Golden State Killer: An Interview with Paul Holes and Barbara Rae-Venter
In April of 2018, news broke that the elusive Golden State Killer had been identified through a new technique called genetic genealogy (or investigative genealogy). In just 4 ½ months, Paul Holes and his team (including genealogist Barbara Rae-Venter) put a name to the man who had terrorized California for years. In this interview, […]
Beyond Genetic Genealogy: Building Family Trees to Investigate Crime
“Class! Class!” Diahan Southard raises her voice and claps twice, cutting through the buzz of conversation that fills the room. Dutifully, her class responds. “Yes! Yes!” It’s a technique that Southard has learned from her experience with raising three children and over 20 years of teaching. Her audience is broken up into small […]
