For more than last twenty years, different methods of forensic DNA testing (known as DNA fingerprinting) have been widely established and accepted as the standard procedure in various police and court investigations. Data obtained through this analysis are extremely reliable and could be used as a very powerful tool that produces valuable results. Forensic genetics focuses on applications of molecular genetic findings in a legal context, and it involves the processing of individual traces and results obtained by genetic methods with the aim of reconstructing the course of events as well as the precise individualization of those involved within the judicial, police and other investigative realm. Even though the foundations of forensic genetics date back before the first official DNA analysis in 1985, the first PCR thermocycler that simulated all means necessary for the conduction of all phases of the PCR method was conducted not long after that. What followed in the coming two decades was a significantly rapid progress in the molecular genetic advancement in laboratory methods that resulted in the advancement of forensic DNA analysis from. Even these days technological developments, such as automatization of DNA extraction procedures, speeding up of quantification and amplification phases, introducing of next generation sequencing, will possibly initiate a revolution in this field of science. Efforts of the automation in the field of forensic genetics is focused in the direction of establishing platforms for more informative, cheep, simple, fast and high-throughput analysis. Therefore, we highlight this technological evolution from what once used to be an involved procedure that yielded fewer results in as long as three days to the advancement of biotechnological tools that enable rapid obtainment of tens of thousand-fold more data within as little as a few hours.

The Slavic branch of the Balto-Slavic sub-family of Indo-European languages underwent rapid divergence as a result of the spatial expansion of its speakers from Central-East Europe, in early medieval times. This expansion–mainly to East Europe and the northern Balkans–resulted in the incorporation of genetic components from numerous autochthonous populations into the Slavic gene pools. Here, we characterize genetic variation in all extant ethnic groups speaking Balto-Slavic languages by analyzing mitochondrial DNA (n = 6,876), Y-chromosomes (n = 6,079) and genome-wide SNP profiles (n = 296), within the context of other European populations. We also reassess the phylogeny of Slavic languages within the Balto-Slavic branch of Indo-European. We find that genetic distances among Balto-Slavic populations, based on autosomal and Y-chromosomal loci, show a high correlation (0.9) both with each other and with geography, but a slightly lower correlation (0.7) with mitochondrial DNA and linguistic affiliation. The data suggest that genetic diversity of the present-day Slavs was predominantly shaped in situ, and we detect two different substrata: ‘central-east European’ for West and East Slavs, and ‘south-east European’ for South Slavs. A pattern of distribution of segments identical by descent between groups of East-West and South Slavs suggests shared ancestry or a modest gene flow between those two groups, which might derive from the historic spread of Slavic people.

This study compares the results obtained using multiplex systems PowerPlex® 16 and PowerPlex® Fusion to evaluate the probability of a full kinship (siblings), first cousin and half- sibling relationships among the offspring of three pairs of monozygotic twins. Genomic DNA was isolated and amplified from buccal swab ; selected short tandem repeat (STR) markers were detected. Electropherograms were generated and analyzed using the two multiplex systems for all subjects. Paternity testing for every nine offspring of six couples was performed and in all cases the probability that the alleged father was the true father, was over 99.9999%. Kinship analyses were performed setting up two hypotheses, where the relationships of full kinship, first cousins and half-siblings were tested and calculating the likelihood ratio (LR). Relatedness coefficients were used to describe the type of relationship between two subjects under the hypothesis and average likelihood ratios values showed which of the subjects had a higher percentage of common alleles. Determining the degree of relationship between subjects who were full siblings, the likelihood ratios were highest compared with the other two types of kinship. Kinship analyses between first cousins showed higher probabilities than when the subjects were half- siblings, rather than first cousins. Introduction of an additional seven loci used in the PowerPlex® Fusion System gave even higher average likelihood ratios and higher probabilities of these relations.

Availability of the large number of sources of extractable human DNA poses the challenge to find the easiest way to obtain large quantities of DNA from those sources. We have used Maxwell and Qiagen methods for DNA extractions from various samples that could be found at the crime scene or used in paternity disputes. Samples of buccal, vaginal and ear swabs, cigarette tips, chewing gum, urine, contact lenses, hair and dandruff were collected from ten voluntary donors. We used commercial Qiagen and Maxwell systems for DNA isolation. The success of isolation was demonstrated by horizontal gel electrophoresis, spectrophotometry analysis and PCR amplification of 15 STR loci (PowerPlex® 16 System). Our results confirmed that the Maxwell system was the fastest and easiest and a very reliable way of getting high-quality DNA from different sources. We have got 9 of 10 complete DNA profiles by this system, whereas DNA extraction according to Qiagen protocol resulted in generating only two out of ten completed DNA profiles. In conclusion, the Maxwell system appears to be the method of the choice for DNA extraction from large numbers of biological samples because of its reliability, simplicity and cost-effectiveness.