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 Animation of a laboratory report determining the major and the minor contributor

August 5, 2020
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0:02 Sometimes an evidence sample might contain a  large amount of material from one DNA source

0:07 and only a little from another. Consider in this  display two known samples: one is a male shown

0:14 in the top electropherogram the fact that he is  male is apparent by the two green peaks visible

0:20 at the left representing an X and a Y allele; the  other known sample is a female shown in the bottom

0:27 electropherogram. Her electropherogram displays  only one tall green peak at the left representing

0:34 her two X alleles. The center electropherogram is  that of the evidence sample. Note that every peak

0:41 in the evidence samples electropherogram matches  to a peak from the electropherogram of one of

0:47 the two known samples, indicating that those  individuals could not be excluded as being the

0:52 two contributing sources of the DNA found in the  evidence sample. Notice also that the peaks in the

0:59 evidence samples electropherogram that correspond  to those from the females electropherogram are not

1:05 as tall as those that match the male. This means  that more of the male's DNA than of the females

1:11 was present in the evidence sample. The male  therefore would be referred to as the major

1:17 contributor to the evidence sample and the female  would be referred to as the minor contributor.
    
  
Disclaimer:
              Opinions or points of view expressed in these recordings represent those of the speakers and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. Any commercial products and manufacturers discussed in these recordings are presented for informational purposes only and do not constitute product approval or endorsement by the U.S. Department of Justice.
  
Date Published: August 5, 2020
    
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