Parabon Snapshot
Definition
A commercial DNA phenotyping service (Parabon NanoLabs, Virginia, US) that genotypes thousands of SNPs from a crime-scene sample and uses machine learning to generate a composite portrait of the contributor's probable appearance.
- Provider
- Parabon NanoLabs, Virginia, USA
- Method
- SNP genotyping combined with machine learning prediction
- Output
- Predicted composite portrait, ancestry, eye color, hair color, skin color
Common questions
What is Parabon Snapshot and what does it do?+
Parabon Snapshot is a DNA phenotyping service offered by Parabon NanoLabs that analyzes thousands of genetic variants (SNPs) from a crime-scene DNA sample. Using machine learning, it generates a predicted composite portrait showing the probable physical appearance of the DNA contributor, including eye color, hair color, and skin color.
How can forensic investigators use Parabon Snapshot?+
Investigators submit crime-scene DNA samples to the service, which returns predictions about the suspect's likely appearance and ancestry. This information can help narrow investigative leads, guide suspect interviews, or generate initial suspect lists. It works best when traditional DNA matches to known databases have no hits.
What are the limitations of this DNA phenotyping approach?+
The predictions are probabilistic estimates, not certainties. Ancestry and phenotype are complex traits influenced by multiple genes and environment, so the generated composite is one likely outcome among many. Results should always be treated as investigative leads, not confirmatory evidence of identity.
Related terms
- 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...
- Ancestry-Informative Marker (AIM)
- A SNP with an allele-frequency difference (FST) above 0.4 or 0.5 between continental population groups. A panel of 100-200 AIMs provides probabilistic...
- Biogeographic Ancestry Inference (BGA)
- Statistical assignment of a donor to continental ancestry groups using Ancestry-Informative SNPs (AIMs). Distinct from racial categorisation.
- 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 Characteristic (EVC)
- An observable physical trait (eye colour, hair colour, skin tone, height, facial morphology) whose variation in the population is partly genetically determined...
- 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.
- FORENSeq DNA Signature Prep
- Commercial MPS kit from Verogen that types STRs, Y-STRs, X-STRs, identity SNPs, AIMs, and EVC SNPs in a single library preparation and...
- Forensic DNA Phenotyping (FDP)
- Prediction of externally visible characteristics, ancestry and age of an unknown donor from SNP genotypes. Investigative lead, not identification.
- mRNA / miRNA
- Messenger and micro RNA. Forensic RNA profiling uses tissue-specific transcripts of both classes to identify body fluids.
- SNP
- Single Nucleotide Polymorphism. A one-base variant at a defined position. FDP uses SNP panels, not STRs.
- SNPforID Consortium
- European-funded research consortium that published the foundational 52-SNP identity panel for forensic use in 2004-2006. The 52-plex is validated for maximum discriminating...
Explained in these topics
- DNA Phenotyping and RNA Profiling in Forensic ScienceCommercial FDP service (Parabon NanoLabs, USA) that returns a predicted composite, ancestry, eye, hair and skin colour from crime-scene DNA.
- SNP Panels for Ancestry, Phenotype and IdentificationA commercial DNA phenotyping service (Parabon NanoLabs, Virginia, US) that genotypes thousands of SNPs from a crime-scene sample and uses machine learning to g...