Reviewing population studies for forensic purposes: Dog mitochondrial DNA.

ABSTRACT: The identification of dog hair through mtDNA analysis has become increasingly important in the last 15 years, as it can provide associative evidence connecting victims and suspects. The evidential value of an mtDNA match between dog hair and its potential donor is determined by the random match probability of the haplotype. This probability is based on the haplotype's population frequency estimate. Consequently, implementing a population study representative of the population relevant to the forensic case is vital to the correct evaluation of the evidence. This paper reviews numerous published dog mtDNA studies and shows that many of these studies vary widely in sampling strategies and data quality. Therefore, several features influencing the representativeness of a population sample are d

SUBMITTER: Verscheure S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3890688 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature