Statistical Evaluation of Lineage Markers in Individual Identification.

Lee, Hyo Jung; Lee, Soong Deok; Lee, Seung Hwan; Park, Su Jeong; Jeong, Su Jin; Lee, Jae Won

doi:2014.38.2.39

Korean J Leg Med > Volume 38(2); 2014 > Article

Review article

Korean Journal of Legal Medicine 2014;38(2):39-47.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7580/kjlm.2014.38.2.39 Published online May 31, 2014.

Statistical Evaluation of Lineage Markers in Individual Identification.

Hyo Jung Lee, Soong Deok Lee, Seung Hwan Lee, Su Jeong Park, Su Jin Jeong, Jae Won Lee

¹Clinical Development Department, Dong-A ST, Seoul, Korea.
²Department of Forensic Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
³Supreme Prosecutor's Office, Seoul, Korea.
⁴Department of Statistics, Korea University, Seoul, Korea. jael@korea.ac.kr

Abstract

Mitochondrial DNA (mt DNA) and the non-recombining region of the Y chromosome are passed down, unaltered, from generation to generation, matrilineally and patrilineally, respectively. Therefore, the Y-chromosome DNA and mtDNA are known as lineage markers, and they play important roles in studies based on human migration and evolutionary history. Y-chromosome DNA is used in forensic analysis to identify individuals involved in cases of sexual assault. In this paper, we review the methods of statistical evaluation of lineage markers used in forensic identification. We also review the combined approach of autosomal and lineage marker evidence.

Key Words: Lineage marker, Mitochondrial DNA, Y chromosome, Individual identification, Match probability