https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/05/180514083926.htm

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Forensics: New tool predicts eye, hair and
skin color from a DNA sample of an
unidentified individual
New tool will be used when standard forensic profiling is
not helpful
May 14, 2018
Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis School of
Science
An international team has developed a novel tool to
accurately predict eye, hair and skin color from human
biological material -- even a small DNA sample -- left, for
example, at a crime scene or obtained from archeological
remains. This all-in-one pigmentation profile tool provides a
physical description of the person in a way that has not
previously been possible by generating all three pigment traits
together using a freely available webtool.
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2. An international team, led by scientists from the School of Science at
IUPUI and Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, has
developed a novel tool to accurately predict eye, hair and skin color from
human biological material. The innovative high-probability and high-
accuracy complete pigmentation profile webtool is available online
without charge.
Credit: Walsh lab in School of Science at IUPUI
An international team, led by scientists from the School of
Science at IUPUI and Erasmus MC University Medical
Center Rotterdam in the Netherlands, has developed a
novel tool to accurately predict eye, hair and skin color from
human biological material -- even a small DNA sample --
left, for example, at a crime scene or obtained from
archeological remains. This all-in-one pigmentation profile
tool provides a physical description of the person in a way
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3. that has not previously been possible by generating all
three pigment traits together using a freely available
webtool.
The tool is designed to be used when standard forensic DNA profiling is not
helpful because no reference DNA exists against which to compare the
evidence sample.
The HIrisPlex-S DNA test system is capable of simultaneously predicting
eye, hair and skin color phenotypes from DNA. Users, such as law
enforcement officials or anthropologists, can enter relevant data using a
laboratory DNA analysis tool, and the webtool will predict the pigment profile
of the DNA donor.
"We have previously provided law enforcement and anthropologists with
DNA tools for eye color and for combined eye and hair color, but skin color
has been more difficult," said forensic geneticist Susan Walsh from IUPUI,
who co-directed the study. "Importantly, we are directly predicting actual skin
color divided into five subtypes -- very pale, pale, intermediate, dark and
dark to black -- using DNA markers from the genes that determine an
individual's skin coloration. This is not the same as identifying genetic
ancestry. You might say it's more similar to specifying a paint color in a
hardware store rather than denoting race or ethnicity.
"If anyone asks an eyewitness what they saw, the majority of time they
mention hair color and skin color. What we are doing is using genetics to
take an objective look at what they saw," Walsh said.
The innovative high-probability and high-accuracy complete pigmentation
profile webtool is available online without charge.
The study, "HIrisPlex-S System for Eye, Hair and Skin Colour Prediction
from DNA: Introduction and Forensic Developmental Validation," is
published in the peer-reviewed journal Forensic Science International:
Genetics.
"With our new HIrisPlex-S system, for the first time, forensic geneticists and
genetic anthropologists are able to simultaneously generate eye, hair and
skin color information from a DNA sample, including DNA of the low quality
and quantity often found in forensic casework and anthropological studies,"
said Manfred Kayser of Erasmus MC, co-leader of the study.
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4. Cite This Page:
Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis School of Science.
"Forensics: New tool predicts eye, hair and skin color from a DNA sample of
an unidentified individual: New tool will be used when standard forensic
profiling is not helpful." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 14 May 2018.
<www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/05/180514083926.htm>.
Materials provided by Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
School of Science. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Journal Reference:
1. Lakshmi Chaitanya, Krystal Breslin, Sofia Zuñiga, Laura Wirken,
Ewelina Pośpiech, Magdalena Kukla-Bartoszek, Titia Sijen, Peter de
Knijff, Fan Liu, Wojciech Branicki, Manfred Kayser, Susan Walsh. The
HIrisPlex-S system for eye, hair and skin colour prediction from
DNA: Introduction and forensic developmental validation. Forensic
Science International: Genetics, 2018; 35: 123 DOI:
10.1016/j.fsigen.2018.04.004
MLA APA Chicago
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