title: Forensic inference from genetic markers.
abstract: This review provides an overview of forensic inference from genetic markers. Because the judge and jurors are charged with decision-making, the forensic expert's job is to provide a useful summary of the evidence to the court. Hence, this review focuses on the likelihood ratio as a means of summarizing the genetic data for either criminal or civil cases. The properties of the genetic markers frequently used in today's court cases, those being VNTR loci, are discussed in detail. Unlike traditional markers, the data from VNTR loci are complicated because current molecular methods generate data that follow a finite mixture distribution. Critical ancillary issues are also covered, though not in detail.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Devlin
mesh_terms: D001499:Bayes Theorem; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D005104:Expert Testimony; D005554:Forensic Medicine / Q000379:methods*; D005819:Genetic Markers; D006801:Humans; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D015233:Models, Statistical; D010334:Paternity; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D005819:Genetic Markers