Degree Type

Honors Capstone Project

Date of Submission

Spring 5-1-2019

Capstone Advisor

Michael Marciano

Capstone Major

Biology

Capstone College

Arts and Science

Audio/Visual Component

no

Capstone Prize Winner

no

Won Capstone Funding

yes

Honors Categories

Sciences and Engineering

Subject Categories

Biology | Life Sciences

Abstract

The processing offorensic DNA samplesfromextractiontointerpretation can introducenon-biological, process-related stutter and pull-up artifacts that cansignificantlycomplicateDNA profile interpretationbyappearing as biologically significant alleles.This project aims tomodel stutter and pull-up product formation to enable automated identification and removal ofnon-allelic influence from the profile. The results will provide more accurate and reliable meansof artifact identification and will also contribute to understanding the GlobalfilerHuman DNAAmplificationsystem(ThermoFisher Scientific), a relatively new amplification kit thatiscurrently undergoing widespread implementation. Stutter and pull-uparemodeledusingGlobalFiler-amplified human DNA data.Stutterismodeled using nonlinear regression and pull-upismodeled using symbolic regression via genetic programming, a form of artificialintelligence. Both leverage large datasets and computational methods to determine optimalmodels for artifact detection.The resulting stutter modelsused in conjunction with a dynamic,locus, sample specific analytical threshold (LSST)successfully removed96.91% of stutterfromhumanDNA profiles. Pull-up models usinga dynamic, locus, sample specific analyticalthreshold(LSST)successfullyremoved98.1 % ofpull-up peaksin human DNA profiles overallacross all dye relationships.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Included in

Biology Commons

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.