IdentiPLEX: A new STR kit for human identification developed and validated at IdentiGEN laboratory in Colombia

Abstract

Colombian laws require that paternity testing probability (W) values be higher than 99,99% to prove biological relationship. IdentiGEN lab currently uses 23 autosomal genetic markers included in the commercial kits Identifiler®, PowerPlex®16, FFFL® and Triplex® (in-house kit: D18S535, D2S1338, SE33); however, in some complex cases the number of markers is not enough to reach the legal statistical threshold. IdentiPLEX kit, consisting of 19 markers, selected from NIST & STRbase databases was developed and validated according to the requirements established by the norm NTC-ISO17025. These include among others, studies of precision, specificity, sensitivity, stutter proportion and concordance tests. Forensic and population parameters were also calculated using Powerstats and Arlequin V3.5.2 software (N = 701 individuals). These analyses allowed to conclude that identiplex kit is appropriate for routine analysis casework, and more specifically aiming to solve criminal and filiation complex cases.