ABI News REPEAT/Applied Biosystems Advances Forensic Science with the World's First Commercial Chemistry for Analyzing Degraded DNA
FOSTER CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Applied Biosystems (NYSE: ABI), an Applera Corporation business, today announced the world’s first commercially available reagent kit for generating genetic profiles from aged, compromised, or damaged DNA samples. The new AmpFℓSTR®MiniFiler™ PCR Amplification Kit was developed in response to the growing backlog of samples recovered from crime scene investigations and other instances of DNA collection in which the samples could not previously be identified because of poor sample quantity or quality. The new kit is expected to enable an increase in the number of solved criminal cases, in addition to aiding in the investigation of missing person occurrences.
The new MiniFiler kit has already successfully contributed information to a high profile criminal investigation regarding the identification of the remains of a young woman whose decomposed body was found buried in a shallow grave near Deer Creek, Montana in 1984. The case of Debbie Deer Creek ─ the name given to the Jane Doe by law enforcement officials ─ languished for more than two decades as forensic scientists did not have the ability to determine her identity because forensic DNA technology could not effectively analyze the samples recovered from her skeletal remains.
An unexpected break in the case occurred, however, when the University of North Texas System, Center for Human Identification began to test the MiniFiler kit. Dr. Arthur Eisenberg, professor and director of the Department of Pathology and Human Identification, was able to analyze Debbie Deer Creek’s degraded DNA using MiniFiler in conjunction with other DNA testing methods to positively identify her as Marcella Bachmann, a young woman who had been missing for 22 years.
Using the CODIS+mito National Missing Persons DNA Database, a “cold hit” occurred with a family reference sample provided by the King County Sheriff’s Office in Washington state. Family reference samples were being collected for young women who had disappeared from 1982-1998 in an attempt to identify other potential victims of the “Green River Serial Killer,” Gary Ridgway. The results from the MiniFiler kit were instrumental in confirming the identification of Ms. Bachmann, bringing closure to this long-standing cold case. Law enforcement officials from Montana are convinced that Debbie Deer Creek was the victim of Wayne Nance, an eight-time serial killer.
“In some of the most heartbreaking and horrendous cases, we used to have to accept that some DNA samples simply could not be tested,” said Dr. Eisenberg. “The new MiniFiler kit allows us to analyze samples that previously provided limited or no results. With this new technology, we expect that we will be able to increasingly identify human remains and solve crimes that would not have been possible with other systems.”
Different factors, such as sample age and environmental factors, affect the degradation of DNA. As DNA degrades, the volume of testable material becomes smaller and more difficult to analyze. In some cases, sample material may contain impurities that limit – or inhibit – the ability to properly amplify the sample. As DNA becomes inhibited, samples are less likely to produce results.
MiniFiler applies a new approach to standard DNA technology by shortening the fragments used to amplify DNA. These shortened regions are known as short tandem repeat (STR) regions or miniSTR technology. They allow analysis of very small fragments of DNA. STRs are repeated DNA sequences that are variable in length and are widespread throughout the human genome. Such variability allows discrimination among individuals in a population, which is useful for identification in forensic cases.
The chemistry of the MiniFiler kit complements other Applied Biosystems forensic DNA testing kits, including the Identifiler®, Profiler Plus® and COfiler® and SGM Plus® kits. For example, if a degraded sample amplified with the Identifiler kit is missing seven of the 15 loci normally amplified by the kit in a forensic case, the MiniFiler kit complements it by amplifying the same sample to provide results for the seven loci that were not successful. Working together, the two kits have the potential to provide a full identification profile from damaged DNA.
Applied Biosystems expects that the MiniFiler kit will enable laboratories to obtain more complete identification profiles from DNA samples, which can be uploaded to DNA databases and used to assist forensic investigations.
“The ability to analyze degraded DNA gives forensic scientists a powerful tool for getting better results from a broader range of DNA samples that have been impacted by either the environment or by time,” said Leonard Klevan, Ph.D, president for Applied Biosystems’ applied markets division. “We expect this advancement to help solve more crimes, reopen unsolved cold cases, exonerate the wrongly accused and help identify missing persons.”
For more information about Applied Biosystems human identification solutions, please visit www.appliedbiosystems.com.
About Applera Corporation and Applied Biosystems
AppliedBiosystems Group (NYSE:ABI), an Applera Corporation business, develops and markets instrument-based systems, consumables, software, and services to the life science industry and research community.
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Applera, Applied Biosystems, AB (design), AmpFℓSTR, Celera, COfiler, Identifiler, Profiler Plus and SGM Plus are registered trademarks, and MiniFiler is a trademark of Applera Corporation or its subsidiaries in the U.S. and/or certain other countries. Copyright 2007. Applera Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
