title: Recommendations for animal DNA forensic and identity testing.
abstract: Genetic analysis in animals has been used for many applications, such as kinship analysis, for determining the sire of an offspring when a female has been exposed to multiple males, determining parentage when an animal switches offspring with another dam, extended lineage reconstruction, estimating inbreeding, identification in breed registries, and speciation. It now also is being used increasingly to characterize animal materials in forensic cases. As such, it is important to operate under a set of minimum guidelines that assures that all service providers have a template to follow for quality practices. None have been delineated for animal genetic identity testing. Based on the model for human DNA forensic analyses, a basic discussion of the issues and guidelines is provided for animal testing to include analytical practices, data evaluation, nomenclature, allele designation, statistics, validation, proficiency testing, lineage markers, casework files, and reporting. These should provide a basis for professional societies and/or working groups to establish more formalized recommendations.
authors.affiliation: FBI Laboratory, 2501 Investigation Parkway, Quantico, VA 22135, USA. bruce.budowle@ic.fbi.gov
authors.forename: Bruce
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Budowle
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Garofano
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hellman
authors.forename: Melba
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ketchum
authors.forename: Sree
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kanthaswamy
authors.forename: Walther
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Parson
authors.forename: Wim
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: van Haeringen
authors.forename: Steve
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fain
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Broad
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting / Q000662:veterinary*; D005819:Genetic Markers; D007753:Laboratories / Q000592:standards; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA / Q000662:veterinary
chemical_list: D005819:Genetic Markers