Evaluation of Capillary Electrophoresis for the Forensic Analysis of Short Tandem Repeats
Eric Buel1, George Herrin2,
Marcie LaFountain1, and Margaret Schwartz1
1Vermont Forensic Laboratory, Department of Public Safety, Waterbury, VT
2Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Decatur, GA
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Capillary electrophoresis is emerging as an important tool for forensic laboratories. The technique employs a capillary instead of the traditional gel-based technology to analyze STRs, semi-automating the analytical process. The use of CE for STR analysis is relatively new in forensics. In this study we establish that CE provides the same allelic designation as that determined by laboratories using a variety of gel-based methods. Eighty samples were amplified using either one or both of the multiplex systems AmpFISTR Blue and AmpFISTR Green I, amplifying D3S1358, vWA, FGA, or CSF1PO, TH01, TPOX and amelogenin respectively. The amplicons were analyzed by CE, and the results compared to those previously obtained by the contributing laboratory. Over all, 80 samples, providing 532 allelic identifications, were analyzed using CE. All identifications with CE were consistent with those of the contributing laboratory. Further studies with the AmpFISTR Blue multiplex were conducted to validate the use of this multiplex for casework as well as the use of CE for the analysis of this multiplex. Portions of the TWGDAM validation studies conducted will be presented. Characteristics of the instrument including resolution, standard deviation for the loci studied, and column longevity will be discussed.
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