[microLATAM] Validation of microhaplotypes for forensic applications in admixed Latin American populations
Ente: EC
Scadenza: 2029-06-30
Importo max: 247.553 EUR
Paese: EU
Descrizione
In recent years, forensic genetics has expanded beyond short tandem repeats (STRs) to include alternative markers such as single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and, in more recent years, microhaplotypes (MHs). These emerging tools aim to overcome the need for long DNA fragments for STR analyses. MHs stand out for their potential to offer high degrees of polymorphism and short lengths, making them especially promising for challenging forensic applications such as mixture deconvolution, long distant kinship and biogeographic ancestry (BGA) inference for degraded DNA. DNA continues to play a crucial role in legal proceedings due to the ability to calculate statistical weights of the evidence. Accurate estimations of these weights require accurate allele frequencies and a clear understanding of how genetic ancestry and population structure affect analysis. This is crucial for the implementation of MHs in populations with complex admixed backgrounds, like Latin America (LATAM) and, more recently, Europe, where the rising immigration rates have introduced greater genetic diversity. This project aims to advance the application of MHs by (1) determining the frequency of forensically relevant MHs in LATAM populations underrepresented in current databases; (2) evaluating the precision of MHs for BGA estimation in admixed individuals; (3) analyzing the power of current MHs methods for kinship estimation between first to fourth degree relatives from admixed backgrounds; and (4) evaluating the ability to deconvolute two to five person mixtures of varying ratios using MHs from contributors sharing co-ancestry components and admixed background. These Research Objectives will be achieved using tailored workflows from the literature and new methods developed with the Section of Forensic Genetics at UCPH. The results will improve precision and reduce bias in MH-based forensic analyses for admixed populations and support broader applications in population genetics and anthropology.
Settori: Horizon Europe Topics
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