Fast STR allele identification with STRait Razor 3.0
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 28, 2026
Enhanced Genetic Analysis of Single Human Bioparticles Recovered by Simplified Micromanipulation from Forensic ‘Touch DNA’ Evidence
Published on: March 9, 2015
August E Woerner1, Jonathan L King1, Bruce Budowle2
1Center for Human Identification, University of North Texas Health Science Center, 3500 Camp Bowie Blvd., Fort Worth, TX 76107, USA.
Abstract:
The short tandem repeat allele identification tool (STRait Razor), a program used to characterize the haplotypes of short tandem repeats (STRs) in massively parallel sequencing (MPS) data, was redesigned. STRait Razor v3.0 performs ∼660× faster allele identification than its previous version (v2s), a speedup that is largely due to a novel indexing strategy used to perform "fuzzy" (approximate) string matching of anchor sequences. Written in a portable compiled language, C++, STRait Razor v3.0 functions on all major operating systems including Microsoft Windows, and it has cross-platform multithreading support. In silico estimates of precision and accuracy of STRait Razor v3.0 were 100% in this evaluation and results were highly concordant with those of Strait Razor v2s. STRait Razor v3.0 adds several key features that simplify the haplotype reporting process, including simple filters to remove low frequency haplotypes as well as merging haplotypes within a locus encoded on opposite strands of the DNA molecule.
