The following is a press release written by QIAGEN:
QIAGEN N.V. announced that Bode Technology, the largest private U.S. forensics laboratory company with a growing presence in other regions, will become the exclusive global commercial partner for the GEDmatch PRO genealogy database, which is used to assist police and forensic teams with investigative comparisons of genetic data.
The multi-year agreement between QIAGEN’s subsidiary Verogen and Bode extends the long-standing partnership of two leading companies in forensic investigative genetic genealogy (FIGG) to further accelerate the use of GEDmatch PRO in law enforcement and identification of human remains. QIAGEN has been providing GEDmatch PRO to customers since the early 2023 acquisition of its subsidiary Verogen, a proven leader in equipping forensic science laboratories and criminal investigators to use next-generation sequencing (NGS) to gain deeper insights.
GEDmatch PRO is the leading forensic investigative genetic genealogy solution and has been used around the world to solve cases that could not be solved with traditional genetic fingerprinting. When capillary electrophoresis (CE) based analysis fails to yield an identification, NGS can find patterns of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) as the basis for finding genetic associations in GEDmatch PRO.
Combining QIAGEN’s expertise in forensic products and Bode Technology’s in forensic services will also further boost the use of QIAGEN’s next-generation sequencing (NGS) products for use in human identification (HID) and forensic investigations.
As part of the partnership, Bode will manage all commercial transactions for GEDmatch PRO globally, while QIAGEN will continue to develop new features with input from Bode’s genealogy experts. Bode will maintain the highest level of data security as GEDmatch PRO users will continue to own their case data and no additional identifying information will be shared with Bode.
QIAGEN’s subsidiary will continue to have sole responsibility and manage the separate GEDmatch consumer database and its free DNA comparison-and-analysis website, which are not affected by this partnership.
”This partnership will accelerate the adoption of using extensive DNA data to enable many cases to be solved, including investigations that have gone ‘cold’, and bring resolution to the families and friends of victims,” said Richard Price, Vice President and Head of QIAGEN’s Human Identification and Forensics business. “This partnership leverages the resources of QIAGEN and Bode to further improve GEDmatch PRO while maintaining the highest level of ethics, data privacy and security that customers have come to expect. QIAGEN has worked well with Bode for over 20 years and this is a natural step in our partnership.”
“Our commercial responsibility for GEDmatch PRO means that law enforcement and other professionals can work with a single full-service accredited DNA provider for forensic analysis,” said Mike Cariola, President and CEO of Bode Technology. ”Our complete in-house workflow and extensive experience working with investigators means we can recommend the best technologies for specific cases and maximize the likelihood of successful outcomes.”
Bode will focus on client acquisition and service. As the largest private forensic DNA laboratory in the U.S. and a growing presence worldwide, including projects in Europe, Australia and the Middle East, Bode has nearly 30 years of experience providing a comprehensive set of state-of-the-art forensic DNA collection products, ISO 17025 accredited DNA analysis services, and research services to law enforcement, the justice system, and other government agencies worldwide.
QIAGEN has a leading position in the use of NGS for forensic and human identification applications and will continue to focus on enhancing GEDmatch PRO’s software tools, security, and other features. QIAGEN leverages its NGS and FIGG technology on its MiSeq FGx instrument and ForenSeq Kintelligence workflow which is designed for use in forensic labs. This workflow can deliver results from severely degraded or contaminated DNA and challenging samples that are common in forensics.