Applied Biosystems amplification kit added to DNA index system

Applied Biosystems revealed this week that the AMPFSTR MiniFiler PCR Amplification Kit has been chosen for use by the National DNA Index System (NDIS).

The kit, which is designed to obtain DNA results from compromised or degraded samples, has been tested across the globe in the past on cases such as missing person investigations, exonerations and historical and archeological cases.

Now that it has been approved by the NDIS board, the kit will be used on a wider scale by forensic laboratories, thereby boosting the database’s involvement in the solving of criminal investigations.

Leonard Klevan, president of human identification at Life Technologies, commented: “Some laboratories have already generated valuable data from unsolved crimes and have been waiting for this opportunity to compare it to the NDIS database.”

In other company news, Applied Biosystems, which is part of Life Technologies, published a paper earlier this month that highlights the power of next-generation DNA sequencing in the identification of mutations in small-cell lung cancer lines.