Genetic Assay for Iris Color

Along with tests for the inference of continental and ethno-geographic ancestry, the assay allows law enforcement workers to "paint” physical profiles from crime-scene DNA specimens and thereby to augment or substitute for unavailable or incomplete human eye-witness testimony.

Called Retinome, the assay measures multiple genetic variants, or single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), located in regions of the human genome that are involved in pigment production. The test is the first commercially available complex genetics test to be developed from the knowledge provided by the human genome sequencing project. Previously, complex genetic tests were notoriously difficult to develop, in part because their determination is the byproduct of multiple, interacting genes and their expression is usually quantitative rather than discrete (i.e., black/white).

Retinome was developed by DNAPrint genomics (Sarasota, FL, USA). The company collaborated with Victoria University (Melbourne, Australia) and the Victoria Forensic Science Services Center (VFSC) on the project to win a competitive 2004 Australian International Science Linkages (ISL) grant, announced in February 2005. The grant was authored by Dr. Swati Baindur-Hudson, of Victoria University, with the assistance of DNAPrint scientists to support the validation and the potential integration of Retinome at the VFSC.

DNAPrint uses proprietary human genome research methods to develop genomic-based services and products for consumer and forensic markets. The company is also working on a disease-gene discovery program.




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