[Forensic genetics]

Abstract

The review first summarizes the molecular biology methods used in forensic genetics in Denmark. In criminal cases, there is international consensus about investigation of Short Tandem Repeat (STR)-regions with polymerase chain reaction (PCR)based methods that are standardised through international collaboration. In paternity and immigration cases, investigations are performed of both STR-regions with PCR-based methods and of variable number of tandem repeat (VNTR)-regions with restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP)-technique. Thereafter some of the most promising areas of research and development in forensic genetics are described, including investigations of still smaller amounts of DNA from biological traces, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) used for identification, identification of factors that can contribute to information about physical traits, and farmacogenetic investigations.