Improved Analysis of DNA Short Tandem Repeats with Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry

The advent of DNA typing and its use for human identity testing has revolutionized law enforcement investigations in recent years by allowing forensic laboratories to match suspects with minuscule amounts of biological evidence from a crime scene. Equally important is the use of DNA to exclude suspects who were not involved in a crime or to identify human remains in an accident. The past decade has seen numerous advances in the DNA testing procedures, most notably among them the development of PCR (polymerase chain reaction)-based DNA typing methods. Technologies for measuring DNA variations, both length and sequence polymorphisms, have also advanced rapidly in the past decade. The time needed to determine a sample's DNA profile has dropped from 6-8 weeks to 1-2 days, and with more recent advancements, the time needed to process samples may decrease to as little as a few hours, maybe even a few minutes.