NEW YORK – Thermo Fisher Scientific said today that the FBI has approved its Applied Biosystems Precision ID System mtDNA analysis solution to generate mitochondrial DNA profiles for the National DNA Index System.
"The Precision ID System for mtDNA analysis offers excellent sensitivity for both sample quality and quantity," said Rosy Lee, Thermo Fisher VP and general manager of human identification. "Traditional methods for mtDNA analysis can be time-consuming and expensive. With the NDIS approval of Precision ID System, forensic scientists can now maximize the potential of this forensic genetic marker."
NDIS is the national level of the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), a DNA profile database that contains entries submitted by federal, state, and local law enforcement. It accepts short tandem repeat, Y chromosome, and mtDNA profiles. According to the FBI's CODIS and NDIS Fact Sheet, "mtDNA data are only searched with the missing person-related indexes."
Launched in 2016, Thermo Fisher's next-generation sequencing-based technology platform includes the Precision ID mtDNA Whole Genome Panel, targeted panels, the Ion GeneStudio S5 Stem, the Ion Chef System for library preparation, and the Applied Biosystems Converge Software NGS Data Analysis module.
Thermo Fisher said the platform offers the ability to detect variation within noncoding control region sequences using as little as 2 pg of DNA.
The approval gives forensic labs across the country another validated NGS technology platform. In May, San Diego-based Verogen announced its NGS platform had received NDIS approval.
The NGS technology joins Thermo Fisher's lineup of PCR- and capillary electrophoresis-based products for the forensics market.