Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 20, 2026
11:49
Enhanced Genetic Analysis of Single Human Bioparticles Recovered by Simplified Micromanipulation from Forensic ‘Touch DNA’ Evidence
Published on: March 9, 2015
Comparison of STR profiling from low template DNA extracts with and without the consensus profiling method.
Kelly S Grisedale1, Angela van Daal
1Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine, Bond University, Gold Coast, QLD, 4229, Australia. kgriseda@bond.edu.au.
Investigative Genetics
|July 4, 2012
Summary
Consensus profiling for low template DNA (LTDNA) may reduce information. Amplifying the whole LTDNA extract in one reaction yields more informative profiles than splitting samples for consensus profiling.
Area of Science:
- Forensic Science
- Molecular Biology
- Genetics
Background:
- Consensus profiling was developed to mitigate stochastic effects in low copy number DNA typing.
- Limited empirical data exists comparing consensus profiles to whole-sample amplification for low template DNA (LTDNA).
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the quality and informativeness of consensus DNA profiles against profiles generated from whole low template DNA extracts.
- To evaluate the impact of sample splitting on DNA profile quality in LTDNA analysis.
Main Methods:
- DNA samples (100 pg and 25 pg) were amplified using PowerPlex® ESI 16 Kits with varying PCR cycles (30 or 34).
- Samples were divided into three aliquots for consensus profiling (alleles present in at least two replicates).
- Profiles were compared based on peak heights, allele drop-out, locus drop-out, and allele drop-in.
Main Results:
- Non-split extracts yielded profiles with a higher percentage of correct loci compared to consensus profiles.
- Consensus profiling effectively eliminated spurious alleles.
- Splitting LTDNA samples prior to amplification significantly increased allele and locus drop-out.
Conclusions:
- Splitting LTDNA samples for consensus profiling leads to a loss of valuable genetic information.
- Consensus profiling may not be the optimal method for generating the most informative DNA profiles from limited template amounts.
