Application of novel 'mini-amplicon' STR multiplexes to high volume casework on degraded skeletal remains

The International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) conducts high throughput STR profiling on degraded skeletal remains, primarily recovered from mass graves relating to conflicts from 1992 to 1999 in the former Yugoslavia. To date, over 11,000 individuals have been identified through comparison of bone profiles to a large database of profiles from family members of the missing. To increase success rates in STR recovery, three short amplicon STR multiplexes (a 7-plex, a 6-plex, and a 5-plex) have been devised and implemented. These target loci from large commercial multiplexes, with an average decrease in amplicon size of 144 bp. The ICMP “miniplexes” have proven to provide substantially greater recovery of DNA data from a certain subset of difficult samples. However, the circumstances under which miniplexes provide additional data are restricted, and their advantages do not outweigh those of large commercial multiplexes for a majority of cases. The miniplexes, however, also have a very powerful use in DNA testing to support large scale reassociation of commingled, partial skeletons recovered from secondary mass graves.