earticle

영어

The typing of short tandem repeats (STR) is the most representative method for individual identification and paternity testing in the forensic field. Although STR-based typing performs well, its limitations (relatively high amplicon size, artifacts, mutation rates) have been well documented. The forensic community has recently focused on alternative and supplementary genetic markers: single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP), insertion-deletion polymorphisms (INDEL), and mini-STR. SNP can be captured in smaller amplicons than STR and their mutation rates are orders of magnitude lower than that of STR. To date, complex approaches which are unwieldy and often not quantitative, have been sought. INDEL are widely distributed throughout the genome and have advantages in amplicon size, artifacts, and mutation rate in comparison with STR. Besides the analysis method of INDEL is based on size like STR and so can be readily analyzed using capillary electrophoresis. In spite of the indisputable advantages of INDEL, its application in routine forensic work remains rare. Several studies on INDEL have recently been published, and interest in this area has grown since the development of commercial kits. We recently reported polymorphisms of 30 INDEL markers using Investigator DIPplex kit in 373 unrelated Korean individuals and analyzed forensic efficiency parameters in order to evaluate forensic application of INDEL in the Korean population. Further, here we report the applicability of INDEL for low copy number samples (LCN) and kinship analysis. It seems that INDEL markers will be a supplementary tool for LCN samples and kinship analysis.