ESR Launches STRmix™ v2.5, Featuring Improved Functionality, Speed, Ease of Use
Washington, DC (PRWEB) August 03, 2017 -- After a full year of technical development and testing, the New Zealand Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) is launching STRmix™ v2.5.
STRmix™ v2.5 – the sophisticated forensic software used by trained, experienced DNA experts to resolve mixed DNA profiles previously considered too complex to interpret – contains a number of powerful new features designed to significantly improve functionality, speed, and ease of use.
Specific features unavailable in previous versions of STRmix™ include:
• Multi-kit functionality, enabling interpretation of DNA profiles from different test kits;
• A likelihood ratio (LR) batcher tool, allowing users to calculate multiple LRs from multiple reference inputs to a previously run deconvolution;
• Hd true tester tool, permitting users to perform a large number of in-silico specificity tests on a profile-by-profile basis;
• The addition of theta within Database Search calculations;
• Optional auto extension of post-burn in when the Gelman-Rubin convergence is not achieved;
• Newly refreshed reporting module to replace the current Advanced Report plugin;
• A Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) report;
• Significant speed and memory improvements; and
• Password protection (optional) for default settings and kit settings.
“In developing STRmix™ v2.5, the focus was squarely on improved functionality and increasing the user’s ability to interpret complex mixtures in a shorter period of time,” explains Dr. John Buckleton, DSc, FRSNZ, Forensic Scientist at ESR. Buckleton and fellow ESR scientist Jo-Anne Bright developed STRmix™ in collaboration with Duncan Taylor from Forensic Science South Australia (FSSA).
Using standard, well-established statistical methods, STRmix™ builds up a picture of the DNA genotypes that, when added together, best explains the observed mixed DNA profile. STRmix™ then enables users to compare the results against a person or persons of interest and calculate a statistic, or “likelihood ratio,” of the strength of the match.
Twenty U.S. labs are now using STRmix™, while another 70 U.S. labs are at various stages of installation, validation, and training. STRmix™ is being used by numerous local, state, and federal agencies, including the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Laboratory (USACIL), the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Michigan State Police, Texas Department of Public Safety, and the California Department of Justice.
To date, there have been at least 13 successful admissibility hearings for STRmix™ in the U.S., while DNA evidence interpreted with STRmix™ has been successfully used in numerous court cases.
Internationally, STRmix™ has been used in casework since 2012, and has been used to interpret DNA evidence in thousands of cases. It is currently in use in labs in Australia, New Zealand, England, Scotland, Ireland, and Canada.
STRmix™ v2.5 is now available. For more information, visit http://strmix.esr.cri.nz/.
Ray Weiss, Weiss PR, Inc., +1 (443) 451-7144, [email protected]
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