Next Generation Solution for Forensic DNA Testing

January 21, 2015 | Illumina today released its MiSeq FGx instrument, a version of the company's MiSeq next generation sequencer modified for forensic DNA testing, as well as ForenSeq chemistry and software kits. The announcement comes little more than a week after Illumina CEO Jay Flatley told investors at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference that a forensic solution was in the pipeline.

Most DNA testing in forensic labs targets specific short tandem repeats (STRs) as genetic signatures, using labor-intensive PCR analysis. Testing on the MiSeq FGx will focus on the same set of STRs, so as to be backwards compatible with forensic databases; however, it will analyze many STRs simultaneously, and the instrument can run multiplexed testing on 384 samples at a time. Illumina's tests also add an analysis of small genetic variants that indicate simple physical traits, like hair and eye color, as well as limited ancestry information.