A new step in forensic examination with discovery of eye colour gene
Researchers of the Erasmus University Medical Centre have discovered a gene in the human DNA that has a major influence on eye colour. The NFI supported the study.
The results of this research are an important new addition to previous results of foreign studies and provide more information for the prediction of eye colour through DNA. The study looked specifically at the Dutch population. The results will be published today in the American Journal of Human Genetics. The Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI) considers these findings to be an important development in forensic examination techniques in the Netherlands.
According to the Rotterdam-based researchers, the variations that occur in this gene can be used to predict the eye colour of people of European origin. Professor Manfred Kayser, head of the department of Department of Forensic Molecular Biology at Erasmus University Medical Centre commented, “Testing markers in this gene and in an adjacent gene can be useful in forensic applications in order to predict the eye colour of unknown persons of European origin. Because the study looked specifically at the Dutch population, these results are relevant for future applications for forensic examination in the Netherlands.”
The NFI, which supported the study by the department of Forensic Molecular Biology, is very pleased with the Rotterdam study. Dr Ate Kloosterman, permanent court-appointed expert in DNA research at the NFI said, “This discovery is a fantastic result of our cooperation. It is an important new step that will enable us to examine a DNA trace in order to predict the eye colour of the person who left the trace. This is an efficient and effective way of moving a criminal investigation in the right direction in practice. In the future, the composite sketch of a suspect can be coloured in using objective scientific information.”