Verogen is a company in the DNA business that is attempting to assist in solving violent “cold cases” by the use of DNA samples taken at the crime scene. The company released a new press release yesterday that describes DNA testing procedures that I don’t fully understand. What really caught my eye, however, was the mentions of GEDmatch PRO,  described as “providing secure access to the largest source of voluntarily contributed profiles for law enforcement matching.”

Here is the press release:

SAN DIEGO–Verogen Inc. announced today that it is expanding capabilities for the NDIS-approved MiSeq FGx® Sequencing System with the commercial launch of the ForenSeq® Kintelligence Kit, a solution optimized for low input and degraded samples. The kit targets 10,230 forensically curated SNPs, alleviating genetic privacy concerns by minimizing medically informative markers. The seamless integration of this workflow with GEDmatch® PRO, a dedicated forensics portal for investigative comparisons, will empower the criminal justice community to maintain chain of custody while generating deeper investigative insights.

GEDmatch PRO advances the genealogy database of consumer site GEDmatch, which was acquired by Verogen in 2019, by providing secure access to the largest source of voluntarily contributed profiles for law enforcement matching. “The launch of GEDmatch PRO delivered on our commitment to data privacy and best-in-class kinship analysis tools in an environment designed for forensic labs,” said Brett Williams, Chief Executive Officer at Verogen. “ForenSeq Kintelligence is built on a forensically validated sequencing platform designed to simplify the workflow and yield more informative data, enabling our customers to truly realize the promise of forensic genetic genealogy while retaining the best practices and high-quality standards essential to their operation.”

“Our mission is to employ the most advanced technology tools to aid investigations. Cold case samples are usually severely degraded, inhibited and have very low inputs, which is why we have invested in the ForenSeq Kintelligence workflow,” noted Danny Hellwig, Laboratory Director at Intermountain Forensics, one of the first labs to utilize the new technology. “It is a targeted sequencing technology that can enhance our ability to provide robust results without compromising on our mission.”

The ForenSeq Kintelligence Kit and the ForenSeq Kintelligence Analysis Module in Universal Analysis Software are now available for purchase. For more information, visit verogen.com.

ABOUT VEROGEN

Verogen is a dedicated developer of human identification products for sequencing and analysis of forensic genomic samples. Working closely with the forensic community, Verogen places exceptional value on flexible, scalable solutions that deliver reliable results.

Footnote: “ForenSeq Kintelligence is built on a forensically validated sequencing platform designed to simplify the workflow and yield more informative data, enabling our customers to truly realize the promise of forensic genetic genealogy while retaining the best practices and high-quality standards essential to their operation.”