Forensic Science International
Volume 162, Issue 1 , Pages 17-23, 16 October 2006

On statistical analysis of forensic DNA: Theory, methods and computer programs

  • Wing K. Fung

      Affiliations

    • Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, China
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. Tel.: 852 2859 1988; fax: +852 2858 9041.
    • ,
  • Yue-Qing Hu

      Affiliations

    • Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, China
    • Department of Mathematics, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
    • ,
  • Yuk-Ka Chung

      Affiliations

    • Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, China

published online 26 July 2006.

Abstract 

Statistics plays an important role in evaluating the evidential weight of forensic DNA. In this paper, general statistical principles for forensic DNA analysis are presented. We introduce the theory and methods for the statistical assessment in kinship determination and DNA mixture evaluation. In particular, analytical formulas for testing for biological relationship among three individuals and for assessing the DNA mixture evidence in the case of multiple subdivided ethnic groups are developed. Two user-friendly computer programs are demonstrated to exhibit their wide applicability in tackling with complex kinship/paternity and mixture problems. The EasyDNA program can solve a complicated paternity case in 1 min.

Keywords: Forensic DNA, Statistics, Computer programs, EasyDNA

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PII: S0379-0738(06)00408-7

doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2006.06.025

Forensic Science International
Volume 162, Issue 1 , Pages 17-23, 16 October 2006

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