Biogeographic Ancestry Inference (BGA)
Definition
Statistical assignment of a donor to continental ancestry groups using Ancestry-Informative SNPs (AIMs). Distinct from racial categorisation.
Related terms
- Body-Fluid-Specific Transcripts
- RNA markers expressed only in one fluid: HBB for blood, STATH for saliva, PRM1 for semen, MUC4 for vaginal fluid, MMP7 for...
- Deconvolution
- A computational technique that estimates the PSF and inverts its effect to recover a sharper image. The quality depends entirely on how...
- Externally Visible Characteristics (EVCs)
- Traits a witness could see: eye, hair, skin colour, freckling, hair shape, height. The EU-funded VISAGE consortium targets this set.
- Forensic DNA Phenotyping (FDP)
- Prediction of externally visible characteristics, ancestry and age of an unknown donor from SNP genotypes. Investigative lead, not identification.
- HIrisPlex-S
- A 41-SNP externally visible characteristics (EVC) panel for simultaneous prediction of eye, hair, and skin colour, developed at Erasmus MC Rotterdam by...
- mRNA / miRNA
- Messenger and micro RNA. Forensic RNA profiling uses tissue-specific transcripts of both classes to identify body fluids.
- Parabon Snapshot
- A commercial DNA phenotyping service (Parabon NanoLabs, Virginia, US) that genotypes thousands of SNPs from a crime-scene sample and uses machine learning...
- SNP
- Single Nucleotide Polymorphism. A one-base variant at a defined position. FDP uses SNP panels, not STRs.
Explained in
- DNA Phenotyping and RNA Profiling in Forensic ScienceStatistical assignment of a donor to continental ancestry groups using Ancestry-Informative SNPs (AIMs). Distinct from racial categorisation.