Developmental Validation of the PowerPlex® 18E System: An 8-Dye STR Multiplex for Human Identification Applications

Published

October 27, 2025

Author(s)

Jonelle Thompson, Michael Lauck, Elizabeth Hamilton, Heather Hodges, Maximilian Neis, Cornelius Courts, Aimee Hack, Alan Pierce, David Moore, Katja Anslinger, Birgit Bayer, Peter Vallone, Carolyn Steffen, Rachel Knoener, Karthika Karthika Divakaran, Stephen McDaniel, Robert McLaren

Abstract

The PowerPlex® 18E System is an 18-locus, eight-dye, STR multiplex optimized for use with the Spectrum CE System and Spectrum Compact CE System. It simultaneously amplifies all 16 ENFSI-recommended loci and two gender-determining loci. In addition, there are two Quality Indicators which that provide indications of sample quality and amplification performance. The PowerPlex® 18E System is designed to amplify DNA from purified extracts as well as direct amplification of database sample substrates. The availability of 8 colors allows all loci to be less than 325 bp, including SE33, thus increasing a laboratory's chance of success with degraded and challenging samples. A multi-laboratory developmental validation study was performed for the PowerPlex® 18E System following SWGDAM guidelines. The results of the study demonstrate the reliability and robustness of the PowerPlex® 18E System for use in human identification DNA typing applications.

Citation

(Social Science Research Network)

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5644667

Local Download

Keywords

DNA, STR, PCR

Citation

Thompson, J. , Lauck, M. , Hamilton, E. , Hodges, H. , Neis, M. , Courts, C. , Hack, A. , Pierce, A. , Moore, D. , Anslinger, K. , Bayer, B. , Vallone, P. , Steffen, C. , Knoener, R. , Karthika Divakaran, K. , McDaniel, S. and McLaren, R. (2025), Developmental Validation of the PowerPlex® 18E System: An 8-Dye STR Multiplex for Human Identification Applications, (Social Science Research Network), [online], https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5644667, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=959846 (Accessed February 6, 2026)