IFG – Institut für forensische Genetik Münster, Prof. Dr. Bernd Brinkmann

General Information

In the following there is background information regarding the general GEDNAP proficiency tests and GEDNAP proficiency tests from 2014 available. For the most recent information on the GEDNAP proficiency tests (2015) can be found on the GEDNAP website GEDNAP.ORG.

• The GEDNAP blind trial concept

and

• The GEDNAP blind trial concept part II. Trends and developments
• GEDNAP Manual

The GEDNAP proficiency tests normally begin with registration in May of each year. The samples are sent in June. The results must be submitted by the beginning of December. The results are presented at the stain workshop (‘Spurenworkshop’) in February of the following year. The certifications of successful completion are sent out at the end of March.

Information regarding the GEDNAP proficiency tests in 2014

The proficiency est samples (GEDNAP 48 + 49) were sent at the beginning of June 2014. The deadline for the online entry of results and the additional postal submission was 12/12/2014 (23:59 CET).

The following includes information regarding the 2014 GEDNAP proficiency tests, which will be applicable in a similar form to the 2015 GEDNAP proficiency tests.

I. Information regarding the test materials

The general proficiency test is made up of 3 reference samples and four stains:

GEDNAP 48: person A – C; stain 1 – 4
GEDNAP 48: person A – C; stain 1 – 4

Please note that the stains provided by us will include mixed stains from a maximum of three persons and that the types of stains usually include saliva, blood and semen (and mixtures of these types of evidence). The GEDNAP stains generally simulate all types of evidence handled in case work.

Note: Each laboratory should retain a portion of the original material for possible additional testing.

II. DNA systems, the successful testing of which can be certified

1. Autosomal core STRs and amelogenin^*

2. Supplementary autosomal STRs^*

3. Y-STRs^*

4. Additional autosomal STRs^{# *}

5. X-STRs ^{# *}

Legende to tables 1 to 5*: The figures indicate the area in which positive allele identification must occur.

For further explanation see section V.

^#: The assessment of these systems and the subsequent certification of successful participation are carried out without the involvement of the Stain Commission.

III. Bio-statistical calculation

This year the bio-statistical calculation regarding mixed stain may again be carried out. The question is whether one of the samples for comparison (person A – person C) from the applicable proficiency test could be the source of one of the contributors of the mixed stain. Please follow both calculation methods described in the recommendations of the Stain Commission (P. Schneider et al. (2006) Rechtsmedizin 16:401–404).

For the allele frequencies please use only the data available with further information on the GEDNAP website (http://www.gednap.de). Only calculations that include the 16 core systems included in the German national DNA database (DAD, i.e., TH01, VWA, FGA, D21S11, D3S1358, D8S1179, D18S51, D16S539, D2S1338, D19S433, D12S391, D2S441, D10S1248, D22S1045 and D1S1656 and ACTBP2/SE33), or the 15 European standard systems, i.e., TH01, VWA, FGA, D21S11, D3S1358, D8S1179, D18S51, D16S539, D2S1338, D19S433, D12S391, D2S441, D10S1248, D22S1045 and D1S1656, will be assessed and certified.

The methods of calculation must be documented. The software used must be named (including version number, where applicable). Please note that the calculation should be carried out without a theta correction value (or with a theta value of zero).

IV. Notes regarding the submission of results

Please only use the online forms on the GEDNAP websites (http://www.gednap.de) for the submission of findings regarding the determination of the type of evidence, details of the extractions, genotyping, and the mixed-evidence calculations. The forms will be available from October 2012. Submissions will be possible until 23:59 CET on 12/12/2014. Comprehensive explanation and access authorisation will be sent in a separate email, if this has not already taken place.

Once your results have been submitted, we request a printout of your submission as documentation (the website allows you to export your entries in PDF format), a signed, stamped copy of which should be sent to us by post, together with the original laboratory data, before 12/12/2014 (date of the postmark).

The submission of the mtDNA results should also be made using only the online forms available on the GEDNAP website (http://www.gednap.de) from October 20154 As in previous years, the deviation of persons A–C from the revised Cambridge Reference Sequence (rCRS) should be submitted using the nomenclature of the applicable international forensic guidelines. The composition of minority heteroplasmatic positions should only be submitted if they make up a share of at least 20 percent. The documentation of the length heteroplasmys should be included in the notes.

V. General Information

Only allele values should be included in the table of results for DNA systems (see Tables 1 to 5). The entry of other symbols (e.g. OL, F, ?) will be counted as an error, with the exception of the less than (<) and greater than (>) symbols.

If an allele value is outside the range given in tables 1 to 5, the entry may be made using the less than (<) and greater than (>) symbols, relative to the smallest or largest allele. For example allele 18 in system TPOX could be entered as “>17” or “18”, neither entry would be incorrect. Otherwise, the identification of alleles should be made according to the guidelines of the ISFG (previously ISFH). Please note that alleles should be submitted to a precision of 1bp (this does not mean that the allele in the example above should be identified as 18.0). Any entries that fail to use the methods of allele identification described here will be counted as an error.

The postal submission of the original laboratory results is essential for the assessment and granting of certification. The printouts of the electropherograms for the samples and the allelic ladder used are required. The classification of alleles must be clear and easily readable from the original data. The amplicon length and peak height must be recognisable. The printouts should be clearly labelled with the relevant inter-laboratory test, the sample description and your laboratory code. The printouts of the sequential electropherogram must be labelled in analogue, in particular the part assessed should be indicated by means of the specification of the nucleotide positions. Further, the process from the sequential electropherogram to the indication of deviation from the rCRS should be documented (among other things, by means of the indication of the software used to generate the consensus sequence after the sequencing of both strands). Example printouts for assessments using GeneMapper, GeneScan or Genotyper, as well as example printouts from sequential electropherogram programs, are available on request.

Assessment of the result form and the following certification of participation cannot be carried out unless the original results are submitted.

Files submitted electronically (e.g. in the form of a CD-ROM or email attachment), and the samples contained therein, should be clearly named.

Certifications will be provided for the modules for which you have registered (presumptive testingn, general and supplementary STRs, Y-STRs, sequence analysis of mtDNA control regions, mixed-stain bio-statistics, additional autosomal STRs and X-STRs, with the last two modules being assessed and certified without the involvement of the Stain Commission).

Certifications can only be made in the name of the institution that has carried out the actual testing. Testing by a third party is not allowed. According to a decision of the Stain Commission, participants must sign a declaration that the GEDNAP certification will not be used by third parties, for example for the purposes of advertising. If such a declaration was submitted in the previous year, it may be omitted this year. If the declaration has not been received by 12/12/2014, the assessment and later certification cannot be carried out.

The grouping of participants will take place as in previous years.

Please refer to the GEDNAP website (http://www.gednap.de) for further details.

VII. Evidence workshop in Essen

The presentation of the results of the proficieny tests GEDNAP 50 and 51 will take place in the context of the stain workshop in Essen (18 to 20 February 2016, http://www.r-km.de/Spurenworkshop2016), which will be organised by Prof. Dr. med. Bajanowski, Director of the Institute of Legal Medicine at Essen University.

VIII. Compliance with requirements

The agreement of the provider named by the Stain Commission for the delivery of samples, assessment of results, and certification of participants in the GEDNAP proficiency tests, will be delivered by the Stain Commission if the conditions named above are met, the current fees for participation have been paid, and the attached declaration has been signed by the official signatory of the participating laboratory and submitted to the provider of the GEDNAP proficiency tests. If these requirements are not fulfilled, the assessment of the results submitted and the provision of certification(s) are not possible.