American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors (ASCLD) award recognizes exemplary method validation benefitting the forensic science casework practitioners. AUSTIN, TEXAS – May 18, 2023 – Signature Science, LLC is pleased to announce that the Forensic Research Committee of the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors (ASCLD) has selected Michelle Peck and her team of authors from Signature Science’s Center for Advanced Genomics (CAG) to receive its 2023 Outstanding Evaluation/Validation Award. Ms. Peck and her team were recognized for their Internal Validation of the ForenSeq Kintelligence Kit for Application to Forensic Genetic Genealogy. To be considered for this award, the validation must be … MORE
Abstract Regulation of research on microbes that cause disease in humans has historically been focused on taxonomic lists of ‘bad bugs’. However, given our increased knowledge of these pathogens through inexpensive genome sequencing, 5 decades of research in microbial pathogenesis, and the … MORE
HORIZON Newsletter – April 2023
In October CAG staff completed our Developmental Validation of the Illumina® Infinium Assay Using the Global Screening Array (GSA) on the iScan System for use in Forensic Laboratories. The study was performed in accordance with the Scientific Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods Validation … MORE
pracpac: Practical R Packaging with Docker
Abstract R packages are the fundamental units of reproducible code in R, providing a mechanism for distributing user-developed code, documentation, and data. Docker is a virtualization technology that allows applications and their dependencies to be distributed and run reproducibly across platforms. … MORE
Abstract Microarray processing, which interrogates hundreds of thousands of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) across the human genome, has recently gained traction in forensics due to its use in forensic genetic genealogy, which is based on analysis using SNPs to compare distant relatives in publicly curated databases for the purposes of developing investigative leads or identifying human remains. To date, there has been no published developmental validation of microarray processing using the Scientific Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods (SWGDAM) Validation Guidelines for DNA Analysis Methods and Federal Bureau of Investigation Quality Assurance Standards. Validation of these methods are warranted to identify … MORE
Signature Science Membership on University of Texas’ DARPA B-SURE Program Team Announced
March 17, 2023 • An article posted to Homeland Preparedness News announced the University-led teams participating in the DARPA B-SURE Program. Signature Science is proud to join the University of Washington and the University of Wisconsin-Madison on The University of … MORE
Award continues federally funded sexual assault kit backlog reduction effort AUSTIN, TEXAS – March 7, 2023 – Signature Science, LLC was awarded an 18-month, $1,108,934 contract from the Houston Forensic Science Center (HFSC) to perform forensic screening and DNA analysis of … MORE
Celebrating with SwRI – Annual Meeting Makes News
February 28, 2023 • Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), together with Advisory Trustees, Board of Directors and special guests, held its 75th Annual Meeting at SwRI’s headquarters in San Antonio. The Institute’s press release covering the event was picked up by … MORE
Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic forever underscored the need for biosurveillance platforms capable of rapid detection of previously unseen pathogens. Oxford Nanopore Technology (ONT) couples long-read sequencing with in-field capability, opening the door to real-time, in-field biosurveillance. Though a promising technology, streaming … MORE
In a paper published in Forensic Science International: Synergy, founders of the National Technology Validation and Implementation Collaborative (NTVIC) announced the group’s formation, in addition to the formation of its first Technology Validation Working Group, the Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy … MORE
HORIZON Newsletter – January 2023
Join the CAG in celebrating with AAFS in Orlando (Feb 13-18)! Stop by our Booth 401 – our CAG stainless steel pint glass giveaway will help you raise a toast to 75 years of The American Academy of Forensic Sciences! Fear of … MORE