Single Nucleotide Polymorphism as Evolutionary Evidence of Individuality

Since the development of DNA fingerprinting by Sir Alec Jeffery, the technique has always had a special relevance to forensic science. With the new emerging technologies, DNA fingerprinting has been performed through detection of specific DNA sequences within reference and query samples by techniques such as RFLP analysis and SSCP analysis to name a few. Recent advancement into determination of individuality includes the detection and analysis of Single Nucleotide Polymorphs (SNPs) within the samples. These analyses have proven significance due to their uniqueness within the genetic sequences by acting as biological markers. SNP detection protocols focus on highlighting the presence of the sequence modifications by using electrophoretic techniques, probes, primers, and high-throughput methods such as Sanger sequencing and NGS. The high-throughput techniques allow simultaneous multi-sample analysis through sequence by synthesis. With respect to individualization, these techniques have been adopted worldwide on regular basis for forensic investigation analysis of recent and cold cases.