Rapid DNA profiling for FBI

IntegenX, a developer of rapid human DNA identification technology, has met the US FBI guidelines to upload directly to the National DNA Index System (NDIS) known arrestee and convicted offender DNA profiles, as well as casework known samples. NDIS is considered one part of Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), the generic term used to describe the FBI’s program of support for criminal justice DNA databases as well as the software used to run these databases.

The profiles will be generated with the RapidHIT System using Life Technologies GlobalFiler Express kits from Thermo Fisher Scientific. The RapidHIT GlobalFiler Express cartridges contain Life Technologies’ NDIS-approved GlobalFiler Express Kit, which has all DNA markers commonly used in most international databases.

With less than five minutes of hands-on time, the system enables buccal swabs, collected from known arrestees, convicted offenders and casework known samples, to be analysed less than two hours, compared to weeks or months with conventional laboratory techniques. This improved efficiency will allow laboratories to spend more time reducing backlog and processing other forensic samples. The design of the cartridges allows users to process between one and seven samples in a single run.

“Having the ability to directly upload a profile into the national database from a rapid DNA system provides laboratories with an excellent option for turning results around quickly,” said Dr Gray Amick, DNA Technical Leader at Richland County Sheriff’s Department. “In our continued quest to reduce time to generating results, the RapidHIT System provides a great option.”

“For the first time ever, an accredited forensic laboratory can directly upload a DNA profile from a rapid DNA system, in less than two hours, into our national database,” said Robert A Schueren, President and CEO, IntegenX. “We’re thrilled to be the first and only company to achieve such a milestone.”

“The GlobalFiler Express chemistry has proven to be a transformative solution for forensic labs since first introduced in 2012 and approved by the FBI a year later,” said Nadia Altomare, vice president and general manager, human identification, for Thermo Fisher Scientific. “The speed and superior quality of data obtained by our solution expedites comparison of DNA profiles to help solve and prevent crimes faster.”

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