Using At-Home DNA Tests for Criminal Investigations – A Call for a Collective Approach to Investigative Genetic Genealogy

"Tens of millions of people worldwide have taken a commercial at-home DNA test out of interest in their genetic ancestry, disease risks, cilantro taste aversion, or athletic performance capacities. Yet, this consumer DNA data is also of interest to law enforcement: the data can be used to identify criminal suspects. By uploading a genetic profile from an unknown suspect, found at the crime scene, to a database with consumer’s genetic data, one could find a distant relative of the suspect. Through the mapping of this relative’s family tree, police can eventually zero in on the actual perpetrator. However, this investigative genetic genealogy (IGG) raises ethical concerns. In this presentation, I aim to contribute to the bioethical analysis of IGG by exploring the limitations of an individual-based model for IGG. I discuss two ethical concerns of IGG: privacy and informed consent. However, I argue that IGG raises specific ethical challenges that extend beyond these two autonomy-related concepts. Because of the far-reaching scope to identify even very distant relatives, IGG could identify a vast majority of a target population, thus making it also a collective issue. I explore how the ethical approach of individual consent and relatives in the biomedical genetic context can be helpful for the debate on IGG. Additional ethical concerns arise from the international, transgenerational, and commercial nature of IGG. I call for a more collective approach to IGG in the ethical debate. "

Impact of SNP microarray analysis of compromised DNA on kinship classification success in the context of investigative genetic genealogy

Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data generated with microarray technologies have been used to solve murder cases via investigative leads obtained from identifying relatives of the unknown perpetrator included in accessible genomic databases, referred to as investigative genetic genealogy (IGG). However, SNP microarrays were developed for relatively high input DNA quantity and quality, while SNP microarray data from compromised DNA typically obtainable from crime scene stains are largely missing. By applying the Illumina Global Screening Array (GSA) to 264 DNA samples with systematically altered quantity and quality, we empirically tested the impact of SNP microarray analysis of deprecated DNA on kinship classification success, as relevant in IGG. Reference data from manufacturer-recommended input DNA quality and quantity were used to estimate genotype accuracy in the compromised DNA samples and for simulating data of different degree relatives. Although stepwise decrease of input DNA amount from 200 nanogram to 6.25 picogram led to decreased SNP call rates and increased genotyping errors, kinship classification success did not decrease down to 250 picogram for siblings and 1st cousins, 1 nanogram for 2nd cousins, while at 25 picogram and below kinship classification success was zero. Stepwise decrease of input DNA quality via increased DNA fragmentation resulted in the decrease of genotyping accuracy as well as kinship classification success, which went down to zero at the average DNA fragment size of 150 base pairs. Combining decreased DNA quantity and quality in mock casework and skeletal samples further highlighted possibilities and limitations. Overall, GSA analysis achieved maximal kinship classification success from 800-200 times lower input DNA quantities than manufacturer-recommended, although DNA quality plays a key role too, while compromised DNA produced false negative kinship classifications rather than false positive ones.