DNA Mixture Interpretation: A NIST Scientific Foundation Review

Credit: N. Hanacek/NIST

Report

NIST has published DNA Mixture Interpretation: A NIST Scientific Foundation Review. This report reviews the methods that forensic laboratories use to interpret evidence containing a mixture of DNA from two or more people. 

Supplemental Information

• History of DNA Mixture Interpretation (NISTIR 8351sup1). 
• Summarized Information from Publicly Accessible Validation Data and Proficiency Testing Results Covering DNA Mixture Interpretation (NISTIR 8351sup2). 

Background Information

• For background information, read our news release to the 2021 draft report: NIST Publishes Review of DNA Mixture Interpretation Methods.
• 2021 draft report.

Public Comment

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has now closed the comment period on the NIST Internal Report 8351-DRAFT “DNA Mixture Interpretation: A NIST Scientific Foundation Review.” All comments received as part of the public record have been compiled into a single PDF document, which may be downloaded from here [Public-Comments-NISTIR8351draft.pdf]. Note that this is a large file (446 pages, 27 MB) and depending on your internet speed, may require some time to download. On Friday, December 3, 2021 we discovered that the redaction we applied made some comments difficult to read. We have corrected these errors and uploaded a new version to replace the original file. This action was performed at 5pm EST, December 3, 2021. 

Explainer

What are DNA Mixtures? And why are they sometimes so difficult to interpret? To find out, read DNA Mixtures: A Forensic Science Explainer.

Webinar

NIST hosted and recorded a 3-hour webinar to discuss the draft report and its findings on July 21, 2021.

More Information

For more information on this and other NIST Scientific Foundation Reviews, visit our Scientific Foundation Reviews page.