Abstract
In forensic genetics, a mixture of two or more contributors to a DNA profile is often
interpreted using the inclusion probabilities theory. In this paper, we present a
general formula for estimating the probability of inclusion (PI, also known as the RMNE probability) from a subset of visible alleles when dropouts
are possible. This one-locus formula can easily be extended to multiple loci using
the cumulative probability of inclusion. We show that an exact formulation requires
fixing the number of contributors, hence to slightly modify the classic interpretation
of the PI. We discuss the implications of our results for the enduring debate over the use
of PI vs likelihood ratio approaches within the context of low template amplifications.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: December 04, 2014
Accepted:
November 26,
2014
Received in revised form:
November 6,
2014
Received:
February 7,
2014
Identification
Copyright
© 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
