SNPforID Consortium
Definition
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 power and minimum amplicon size, supporting analysis of degraded samples.
- Type
- European-funded research consortium
- Key output
- 52-SNP forensic identity panel
- Publication window
- 2004-2006
- Design goal
- High discrimination, minimal amplicon size
Common questions
What problem was the SNPforID 52-plex designed to solve?+
It targeted degraded and low-template samples where standard STR kits struggle because their amplicons are too long to amplify reliably. By selecting SNPs with very short flanking sequences, the panel keeps amplicon size small while still achieving strong discriminating power across a population.
How does the 52-plex compare to a modern autosomal STR kit for court use?+
STR kits remain the primary identification tool because their statistics and databases (such as CODIS-compatible systems) are standardised for court use worldwide. The SNPforID panel is generally used as a complementary or specialised tool, particularly where sample degradation limits STR recovery.
Why did the consortium choose SNPs over other marker types for this panel?+
SNPs mutate far less often than STRs and require only a single base to be read, which suits both low-copy amplification and multiplexing on SNP-typing platforms. The tradeoff is that each individual SNP carries less information than an STR, so more markers are needed to reach comparable discrimination.
Related terms
- 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...
- 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...
- 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...
- 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...
- 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...