STRprofiilit

STRprofiilit refer to genetic profiles constructed from short tandem repeats (STRs) in the human genome. They are highly polymorphic, making them useful for individual identification. A typical STR profile consists of allele calls at multiple STR loci, produced from a DNA sample.

Generation involves extracting DNA, amplifying selected STR loci with polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and determining allele sizes by fragment analysis. The resulting profile is a list of alleles at each locus (for example, 9 and 11 at a given locus, 14 at another). Laboratories often use commercial kits that target 15–20 loci. The loci and kit set vary by country or agency, but the aim is to provide a reproducible, comparable profile.

Applications include forensic casework, such as criminal identification, paternity testing, disaster victim identification, and missing persons investigations. STR profiles can be matched against databases such as CODIS (United States) or national systems, subject to legal and privacy safeguards. They are also used in population genetics research and to study relatedness.

Ethical and privacy considerations: STR profiles identify individuals and close relatives; they are genetic data requiring protection. Access is typically restricted by law and policy; retention and permissible use vary by jurisdiction; misuse, collection of unknown persons’ samples, or familial searching raise concerns.

Limitations: Mixed DNA samples, degraded DNA, partial profiles; stutter, allele dropout, allelic drop-in; interpretation requires statistical support and quality controls. Not all loci are informative for every individual, and different laboratories must maintain standard procedures to ensure comparability.