engleski

Development of software algorithms to assist identification of human remains using STR-PCR method

Nearly 10 years after the war, Croatia is still seeking over a thousand missing persons. Unfortunately increasing number of them is being found in mass graves and can not be identified using classical forensic methods. In the last few years an increasing number of identifications is being performed by analysis of short tandem repeats (STR) in cellular DNA. However, this method has been developed primarily for the determination of parenthood, and its application to situation where the number of potential children or parents is large requires some adaptations. Here we describe the development of software algorithm that enables automatic comparison of DNA profiles determined from bone or tooth sample from a remain with DNA profiles of relatives in the database. The algorithm is based on individual comparisons of genotipes on nine separate genetic loci and determines whether the determined pattern matches or not. Based on this information it ranks all genotypes in the database and identifies potential relatives. Hopefully, the development of this software will enable a novel approach to STR profiling and speed up the process of identification in Croatia.

STR; PCR; human identity

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