For over 25 years forensic scientists have used DNA analysis to provide answers to victims, free the innocent and offer hope
for the future. At ISHI, we’ll be celebrating those successes and hearing from you about #forensicsnextbigthing.
During the 27th International Symposium on Human Identification (ISHI) conference, there are oral presentations, panel discussions, and posters that you don’t want to miss.
Every 2 minutes a female is sexually assaulted. Every 8 minutes, that victim is a child. Meanwhile, only 6 out of every 1,000 perpetrators will end up in prison. These are astounding statistics from RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network.
On Tuesday, September 27th at 2:10 pm, there will be a panel discussion on reducing the sexual assault kit backlog with Cecelia Crouse (Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office), Norman Gahn (Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office – retired), Jeffrey Nye (Michigan State Police), Julie Weil (Not Just Me Foundation). Ms. Weil, founder of Not Just Me Foundation, a rape survivor, works diligently to prevent future sexual assaults and help victims reclaim their lives.
Please visit us at a Behind the Bench blog Unraveling the DNA trail of a Serial Rapist to learn more about the big things that have helped improve the workflow of processing a sexual assault kit and may help solve future cases faster and add DNA profiles of sex offenders into criminal databases. Who knows what the future holds, but perhaps new technologies, such as next-generation sequencing (NGS), will also play a role in deconvoluting complex mixtures from these cases.
Then on Thursday, Sept 29th at 9:00 am, Lisa Hurst from Gordon Thomas Honeywell Government Affairs will discuss the latest news in DNA Policy and Funding Updates in the US where she will also elaborate on state-wide policies for the treatment of collected rape kits.
On Thursday, Sept 29th at 10:50 am, Walther Parson from the Medical University of Innsbruck will talk about the big thing that has already happened in mitochondrial DNA analysis. With new developments in next-generation sequencing techniques, particularly library amplification kits, it is now possible to sequence the entire mitogenomes from miniscule amounts of highly degraded DNA.
Mitochondrial DNA has been used in a number of interesting investigations and here Dr. Parson discusses his prior work. Speaking of NGS, be sure to check out posters to learn about the next big things in Precision ID NGS System for human identification.
#31 The Use of Microhaplotypes in the Analysis and Deconvolution of Mixed DNA Samples
#33 Documenting highly informative microhaplotype loci for implementation using MP
#53 More and More Markers: Use of the Precision ID GlobalFiler™ Mixture ID Panel to Analyze Challenged and Mixed Samples
#73 Sequencing chemistry changes greatly improve HID-STR performance on Ion PGM™ and Ion S5™ Systems
#78 Advances of Massively Parallel Sequencing for Forensics and Human Identification
What’s the next big thing in data analysis? We think it’s Applied Biosystems™ Converge™ Software. With Converge software you can expand your capabilities with Converge™ Case Management and Converge™ Kinship and Paternity Analysis applications and there’s a new module coming that will incorporate STR analysis on both CE and NGS platforms. You can talk to our informatics experts during the poster sessions. Or come by booth #412 and request a demo!
#106 Converge™ software – an enterprise software solution for forensic DNA labs
#109 Converge™ – integrated data analysis & management system for NGS & CE
#110 Converge™ software – a concordance study comparing CE-based systems and NGS technology using STR-loci with standard data sets
The big thing in quality manufacturing is showcased in poster #112 Anatomy of a Forensic DNA Grade kit- what is ISO18385 and what does it mean to me? ISO 18385 is a standard that addresses the growing concerns of the forensic community regarding the potential presence of low-level human DNA in kits and consumables. These guidelines are intended to minimize the risk of human DNA contamination in products used to collect, store, and analyze biologic material. Take a virtual tour of our Warrington, UK site, which achieved ISO 18385 certification, and that’s why you now see the new stickers on your Quantifiler™ , YFiler™ and GlobalFiler™ kits!
Visit Thermo Fisher Scientific at ISHI in the Twin Cities Sept 26th-29th and please come by booth #412 to pick up your ticket to Forensics and the Revolution showcase event on Tuesday, Sept 27th at 5:30 pm in the Hyatt Regency Greenway Ballroom A-C.
We’ll see you there!
For Research, Forensic or Paternity Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.
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