Interpretation of DNA data within the context of UK forensic science — investigation

Abstract

This article is the second part of a review of the interpretation of DNA data in forensic science. The first part describes the evaluation of autosomal profile for criminal trials where an evidential weight is assigned to the profile of a person of interest (POI) and a crime-scene profile. This part describes the state of the art and future advances in the interpretation of forensic DNA data for providing intelligence information during an investigation. Forensic DNA is crucial in the investigative phase of an undetected crime where a POI needs to be identified. A sample taken from a crime scene is profiled using a range of forensic DNA tests. This review covers investigation using autosomal profiles including searching national and international crime and reference DNA databases. Other investigative methodologies described are kinship analysis; familial searching; Y chromosome (Y-STR) and mitochondrial (mtDNA) profiles; appearance prediction and geographic ancestry; forensic genetic genealogy; and body identification. For completeness, the evaluation of Y-STRs, mtDNA and kinship analysis are briefly described. Taken together, parts I and II, cover the range of interpretation of DNA data in a forensic context.

Recent advances in forensic biology and forensic DNA typing: INTERPOL review 2019–2022

“…The designation of STR alleles and genotypes of contributors in DNA mixtures are key aspects of DNA interpretation [ 246 , 247 ]. Electropherograms generated by CE instruments exhibit both STR alleles and artifacts that complicate data interpretation.…”

On the Identification of Body Fluids and Tissues: A Crucial Link in the Investigation and Solution of Crime

“…The debate then centers around the question 'how did his/her DNA get there'? Forensic scientists approach such questions by performing activity-level evaluations [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. Figure 1 shows activity-level evaluation in the context of forensic human biology analyses.…”