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Development
of genetic techniques and databases for population analysis.
(Janzen,
Lamont, Rothschild)
Many groups at ISU are working on aspects of plant and animal genetics. Motivated often by concerns about food safety and agricultural theft, we are using approaches compatible with forensic DNA analysis. For instance, our research is showing that it is possible to estimate the genetic relationships between tested sets of individuals, and also to predict the probability of members belonging to specific populations for poultry. These techniques and approaches could readily be transferred to forensic analysis of any type of population. In another avenue of research, methods to use DNA for complete trace-ability have been developed to track meat from farm to table. These methods can be applied to develop methods to trace DNA from animals that have been involved in crimes.
Another area of considerable expertise at ISU is the population genetics of non-mammalian vertebrates. The genetic database developed here for reptiles in particular (>6000 tissue and DNA samples) is sufficiently sophisticated that it can address the legality of reptilian products. For instance, considerable turtle meat is consumed in the international Asian market, but much of it is often assumed to have been taken illegally. Our molecular approach will be to demonstrate that genotypes within a sample taken from, say, a can of turtle meat can be used to identify both species and geographic origins of the specimens involved. As another example, a number of populations or reptiles are thought to have nonnative origins (i.e. to have been introduced elsewhere artificially by humans from outside their legitimate geographic ranges). We will use molecule markers and computational analysis to pinpoint the likely geographic origin of specimens to determine if they are native or instead are invasive species. While DNA sequencing is now used heavily in forensics laboraties, this type of population-origin analysis is not. We see it as an extremely promising area for forensic development with both wildlife and human application.