Atwood Lauren, Raymond Jennifer, Sears Alison, Bell Michael, Daniel Runa
Science and Research Unit, Forensic Evidence and Technical Services Command, New South Wales Police Force, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Forensic Analytical and Science Service, New South Wales Health Pathology, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Front Genet. 2021 Jan 12;11:568701. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2020.568701. eCollection 2020.
Forensic DNA Phenotyping (FDP) is an established but evolving field of DNA testing. It provides intelligence regarding the appearance (externally visible characteristics), biogeographical ancestry and age of an unknown donor and, although not necessarily a requirement for its casework application, has been previously used as a method of last resort in New South Wales (NSW) Police Force investigations. FDP can further assist law enforcement agencies by re-prioritising an existing pool of suspects or generating a new pool of suspects. In recent years, this capability has become ubiquitous with a wide range of service providers offering their expertise to law enforcement and the public. With the increase in the number of providers offering FDP and its potential to direct and target law enforcement resources, a thorough assessment of the applicability of these services was undertaken. Six service providers of FDP were assessed for suitability for NSW Police Force casework based on prediction accuracy, clarity of reporting, limitations of testing, cost and turnaround times. From these assessment criteria, a service provider for the prediction of biogeographical ancestry, hair and eye colour was deemed suitable for use in NSW Police Force casework. Importantly, the study highlighted the need for standardisation of terminology and reporting in this evolving field, and the requirement for interpretation by biologists with specialist expertise to translate the scientific data to intelligence for police investigators.
法医DNA表型分析（FDP）是一个已确立但仍在不断发展的DNA检测领域。它能提供有关未知样本提供者的外貌（外部可见特征）、生物地理祖先信息和年龄的情报，并且，尽管这不一定是其实际案件工作应用的必要条件，但此前在新南威尔士州（NSW）警方的调查中，它曾被用作最后的手段。FDP可以通过重新排列现有嫌疑人名单的优先级或生成新的嫌疑人名单，进一步协助执法机构。近年来，随着众多服务提供商向执法部门和公众提供专业知识，这种能力已变得十分普遍。随着提供FDP服务的供应商数量增加，以及其指导和定位执法资源的潜力，对这些服务的适用性进行了全面评估。根据预测准确性、报告清晰度、检测局限性、成本和周转时间，对六家FDP服务提供商进行了评估，以确定其是否适合新南威尔士州警方的案件工作。基于这些评估标准，一家能够预测生物地理祖先信息、头发和眼睛颜色的服务提供商被认为适合新南威尔士州警方的案件工作。重要的是，该研究强调了在这个不断发展的领域中术语和报告标准化的必要性，以及需要由具有专业知识的生物学家进行解读，以便将科学数据转化为供警方调查人员使用的情报。
