BOSTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE Thesis CHARACTERIZATION OF THE EFFECTS ASSOCIATED WITH AMPLIFICATION OF DEGRADED DNA USING TRADITIONAL AND MINI-STRS By JONATHON

Many samples submitted for DNA analysis from crime scenes are often degraded or contain DNA mixtures from two or more individuals. Degradation of DNA in these samples presents a challenge as larger molecular weight STR markers are inefficiently amplified, if they are amplified at all, potentially resulting in a significant loss of information. Furthermore, deducing individual donors from DNA mixtures is difficult in the best of times. However, when one or more of the contributors to the mixture exhibit degradation, analysis of the mixtures becomes even more challenging. Recent advancements in the amplification of mini-STRs has led to an increased ability to gain information from degraded or inhibited samples that may otherwise be lost using traditional STR amplification. The commercially available MiniFilerTM kit was developed using the eight largest loci from the AmpFlSTR® Identifiler® kit plus the Amelogenin locus by redesigning the primers such that shorter PCR products are produced, relative to previous STR kits. Due to this redesign, the MiniFilerTM kit was