Skip to content

BAM File

Definition

Binary Alignment/Map format, the compressed binary version of a SAM file. Stores aligned reads with their mapping positions, quality scores, and alignment flags. samtools is the standard tool for BAM manipulation.

Related terms

FASTQ
The standard sequencing output file format containing four-line records per read: identifier, nucleotide sequence, separator, and Phred quality score string. All MPS...
Isoallele
Two STR alleles that share the same repeat count (and therefore appear as the same allele on CE) but differ by a...
Phred Quality Score (Q)
A logarithmic probability score for base-call accuracy. Q30 = 99.9% accuracy (1 in 1000 error probability). Q20 = 99% accuracy. Most forensic...
Stutter (MPS)
In MPS, stutter includes both length-based stutter (as in CE, an n-1 repeat artefact from PCR slippage) and sequence-based stutter (single-nucleotide errors...
VCF
Variant Call Format, the standard output from variant callers (GATK, FreeBayes). Records each variant position with reference allele, alternative allele(s), genotype likelihoods,...

Explained in

Your journey to becoming a forensic professional starts here.

Practice with mock tests, learn from structured notes, and get your questions answered by a global forensic community, all in one place.