Summary of the Findings of a Quality Review of the Scientific Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods Mitochondrial DNA Database

• NCJ Number: 218543
• Author(s): Deborah Polanskey; Bruce Budowle
• Date Published: January 2005
• Length: 4 pages
• Sale Source: US Dept of Justice Federal Bureau of Investigation
• Publication Format: Document (Online)
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Forensic Science Communications, N 1, V 7, January 2005; downloaded May 22, 2007.

Annotation

This report describes the features and discusses the uses and reliability of the Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) Database developed by the Scientific Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods.

Abstract

The mtDNA Database consists of mtDNA profiles of convenience samples provided by paternity, university, and forensic laboratories. There are currently 5,071 mtDNA profiles in the database, which is available to CODIS participating laboratories. the profiles in the database are designated by differences with respect to the revised Cambridge Reference Sequence. At a minimum, profiles in the database contain sequences for hypervariable region I (HVI, np 16024-16365) and hypervariable region II (HVII, np 73-340) that have been sequenced in forward and reverse directions. Identification numbers of the profiles provide some information on population affinity and country source. The dataset can be used to determine the rarity of a mtDNA sequence derived from evidence. Although the database has been validated for use and all known errors have been corrected, it is not entirely free of error, with most being due to human transcriptional errors. An automated means of data entry will be implemented to reduce, if not eliminate, such transcriptional errors. Because of continued quality assurance evaluations of the sequence data, the database can be considered a reliable resource for forensic case analysis. 14 references