U.S. flag
      An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.
        Here's how you know
      Here's how you know**Official websites use .gov**
            
            A **.gov** website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
      **Secure .gov websites use HTTPS**
            
            A **lock** (
            A locked padlock
            ) or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Menu

      
        close

            
            
                                              About NIJ
        
                    
  
          About NIJ
      
    
          The NIJ Director
          How NIJ Is Organized
          Mission and Guiding Principles
          Research and Development Process
          Strategic Framework
          Assessments of NIJ
          Annual Reports & Reports to Congress
          Staff Directory
          Funding & Awards
        
                    
  
          Funding & Awards
      
    
          Current Funding
          Forthcoming Funding
          Expired Funding
          Awards: Listing of Funded Projects
          Guidance for Applicants and Awardees
          Fellowship & Student Programs
          Travel Scholarships
          NIJ Challenge Program
          Library & Multimedia
        
                    
  
          Library & Multimedia
      
    
          NIJ Journal
          Podcasts
          Publications Listing
          Multimedia Listing
          Rated Practices on CrimeSolutions
          Rated Programs on CrimeSolutions
          Software & Databases
          Datasets
          Patents
          Topics
        
                    
  
          Topics
      
    
          Article Listing
          Corrections
          Courts
          Crime Prevention
          Crimes
          Drugs and Crime
          Equipment and Technology
          Forensic Sciences
          Youth Justice
          Justice System Reform
          Law Enforcement
          Tribal Crime and Justice
          Victims of Crime
          Events
        
                    
  
          Events
      
    
          NIJ 2024 Research Conference
          Scheduled Events
          On-Demand Events
          Research Meetings & Workshops
          NIJ-Hosted Online Training

                            
                                About
          Contact Us
          Subscribe
          Topics A-Z
                  Share
FacebookXLinkedInRedditPinterestEmail Home
                            Funding & Awards
 Use of Genetically Variant Peptides to Statistically Estimate the Genetic Background of Hair Shafts
Award Information
Awardee
              UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS
Award #
              2015-DN-BX-K065
Funding Category
              Competitive Discretionary
Location
                    DAVIS, CA
Congressional District
              4
Status
              Closed
Funding First Awarded
              2015
Total funding (to date)
              $397,337
Original Solicitation
              NIJ FY 15 Research and Development in Forensic Science for Criminal Justice Purposes
Description of original award (Fiscal Year 2015, $397,337)
As submitted by the proposer:
A common component of evidence at crime scenes, hair is a biologically and anatomically complex tissue that can provide a significant amount of information. The anatomy of hair shows distinctive characteristics at the level of an individual and as a larger genetic group. Unfortunately the complexity of anatomical features and the degree of morphological variation is too great to be useful as a means of individualization. The level of weighting for each physical characteristic is intrinsically subjective and results in difficulty in presenting associations in a statistically sound and scientific manner. Even distinctive traits such as racial background are difficult to present systematically.
Rather than subjectively inferring the biogeographic background of the donor, this proposal focuses on genetically variant peptides in the hair proteome. These peptides contain single amino acid polymorphisms, the result of non-synonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms (nsSNPs). Their presence in a proteomic dataset is indicative of the presence of the corresponding nsSNPs in the donors genome. The distribution of these nsSNPs often varies widely among different populations. The overall profile probability of occurrence in different populations, such as the African and European sample populations in the 1000 Genomes Project, will differ as a function of the genetic background of the individual.
We seek to establish a training set of 120 hair proteomes from different genetic backgrounds, comprising known ancestral backgrounds (from Ancestry Informative Markers) and likelihood values resulting from profile probabilities in different populations. The cohort will comprise 50 European Americans, 25 African Americans and 25 Biracial African Europeans. We will then establish a calibration curve and test it by predicting the ancestry of 20 individuals with a range of genetic admixture.
Predicting phenotype from genotype has a firm precedent in forensics, and a range of biostatistics strategies for this purpose are available to the investigator. The likelihood values we have obtained to this point range over 6 orders of magnitude, indicating that establishing a scientifically sound, statistically solid, laboratory based method to predict the biogeographic background of the hair shaft donor is within our capability. By refining the method to use a single hair, we anticipate that this method will soon be available to provide valuable information for investigators.
This project contains a research and/or development component, as defined in applicable law.
ca/ncf



  
Grant-Funded Publications
        
                      Use of Genetically Variant Peptides to Statistically Estimate the Genetic Background of Hair Shafts
                  Alternative LC–MS/MS Platforms and Data Acquisition Strategies for Proteomic Genotyping of Human Hair Shafts
                  Elucidation of familial relationships using hair shaft proteomics
                  Forensic proteomics
                  Optimal processing for proteomic genotyping of single human hairs
                  Proteomic genotyping: Using mass spectrometry to infer SNP genotypes in pigmented and non-pigmented hair
                  Proteomic genotyping: Using mass spectrometry to infer SNP genotypes in a forensic context
                  Comparison of Protein Expression Levels and Proteomically-Inferred Genotypes Using Human Hair From Different Body Sites
                  Demonstration of a mitochondrial DNA-compatible workflow for genetically variant peptide identification from human hair samples
                  Proteomic Analysis of Hair Shafts From Monozygotic Twins: Expression Profiles and Genetically Variant Peptides.

  
Date Created: September 17, 2015
    
          Side navigation
  

        

  
  
              Current Funding
    
      
            
            
            
      Forthcoming Funding
    
      
            
            
            
      Expired Funding
    
      
            
            
            
      Awards: Listing of Funded Projects
    
      
            
            
            
      Guidance for Applicants and Awardees
    
      
            
            
            
      Fellowship & Student Programs
    
      
            
            
            
      Travel Scholarships
    
      
            
            
            
      NIJ Challenge ProgramSimilar Awards
        
                      Study of Factors Influencing Mass Spectral Data Comparison
                  The Low-Down on Methamphetamine Isomers: Prevalence and Pharmacology in Humans
                  Use of MicroRNA Expression in DNA extracts to Predict Body Weight Class in Forensic Samples
 Top

      National Institute of Justice

        
        
                        About NIJ
                    About NIJ
      
    
                  How NIJ Is Organized
      
    
                  NIJ Director
      
    
                  Research Disclaimer
      
    
                  Funding & Awards
                    Funding & Awards Home
      
    
                  Awards Listing
      
    
                  Current Funding
      
    
                  Guidance for Applicants and Awardees
      
    
                  Resources
                    Events
      
    
                  Podcasts
      
    
                  Publications
      
    
                  Topics
      
    
                  Multimedia
      
    
                  Reuse Policy
      
    
                  Contacts
                    Contact NIJ
      
    
                  Staff Directory
      
    
                  Submit a FOIA Request
      
    
                  File a Civil Rights ComplaintFacebook
          
                      X
          
                      YouTube
  

      810 7th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20531
      
              Secondary Footer link menu
            Accessibility
              Plain Language
              Privacy Policy
              Legal Policies and Disclaimer
              No FEAR Act
              Freedom of Information Act
              USA.gov
              Justice.gov