We have some amazing partners! Sam Houston State University, Qiagen, Verogen and Intermountain Forensics are collaborating to study the Tissuelyser II instrument as an effective way to process bones and teeth for forensic DNA testing.
Sam Houston State University (Thank you, Rachel Houston) graciously donated bone samples from their body farm and ran these samples via traditional methods to use as a side by side comparison for the study. Qiagen (Thank you, Bryan Davis and Josh "Joshie Fix" Abernathy) graciously donated reagents, expertise, lab work and protocols to make this a reality.
Verogen (Thank you, Meredith Turnbough) provided a wealth of bone processing knowledge and lab work to the effort. We have a good start on this work and will do more next week to get all of the data that will be needed. We will run our samples on the Qiagen TissueLyser, EZ1 Advanced XL with DNA Investigator and Quantiplex Pro Quantification kits. We will develop profiles using both Qiagen 24plex (STR) and Verogen Forenseq DNA Signature (STR, YSTR, XSTR, SNP).
Stay tuned. We'll give you updates on our progress and potential publication of the results but things are looking great so far!
Here's the Tissuelyser II in action:
And here it is (way cooler) in slow motion:
Let's change the world, my friends! With partnerships like this, we will get it done.
Stay safe,
-Danny