The Plateau Method for Forensic DNA SNP Mixture Deconvolution

Identification of individuals in complex DNA mixtures remains a challenge for forensic analysts. Recent advances in high throughput sequencing (HTS) are enabling analysis of DNA mixtures with expanded panels of Short Tandem Repeats (STRs) and/or Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs). We present the plateau method for direct SNP DNA mixture deconvolution into sub-profiles based on differences in contributors DNA concentrations in the mixtures in the absence of matching reference profiles. The Plateau method can detect profiles of individuals whose contribution is as low as 1/200 in a DNA mixture (patent pending)1.