YHRD
Definition
Y-Chromosome STR Haplotype Reference Database, maintained at the Charité Berlin and freely accessible at yhrd.org. Contains over 340,000 haplotypes from 124 countries. Provides haplotype frequency estimates for Y-STR forensic reports.
- Full name
- Y-Chromosome STR Haplotype Reference Database
- Maintained by
- Charite Berlin
- Access
- Free, at yhrd.org
- Coverage
- Over 340,000 haplotypes from 124 countries
- Use
- Haplotype frequency estimates for forensic reports
Common questions
Why does haplotype frequency matter for reporting Y-STR results in court?+
A Y-STR match only becomes meaningful evidence once its rarity is known, since a common haplotype shared widely across a population carries far less weight than a rare one; YHRD supplies the population frequency data examiners cite to express how significant a haplotype match actually is.
Why is population choice important when querying YHRD for a case?+
Haplotype frequencies vary meaningfully between populations due to different paternal lineage histories, so querying the database against a population that does not match the case's relevant population can produce a frequency estimate, and therefore a reported statistic, that misrepresents the haplotype's true rarity.
Related terms
- Argus X-12 QS
- Investigator Argus X-12 QS (Qiagen), the most widely validated commercial X-STR multiplex kit. Amplifies 12 loci in four linkage groups; used with...
- PowerPlex Y23
- Commercial Y-STR multiplex kit (Promega Corporation) amplifying 23 loci, overlapping substantially with Yfiler Plus. The 20-locus YHRD core set is covered by...
- X-STR Linkage Group
- A cluster of X-STR loci that are physically linked on the X chromosome and transmitted as a haplotype block in females. Loci...
- Y-STR Haplotype
- The combination of allele values across all Y-chromosome STR loci typed in a single analysis. Reported as a string of allele values...
- Yfiler Plus
- Commercial Y-STR multiplex kit (ThermoFisher Scientific) amplifying 27 loci in a single PCR reaction. Current standard for Y-STR casework in many US,...