AFDAA MEETING MINUTES
January 20 - 21, 2005
DAY 1
The meeting was called to order by Chair George Schiro. New members and
applicants were welcomed. Shelly Steadman from the Sedgewick County Forensic
Science Center gave the first presentation. Her lab has converted from the FMBIO to
the ABI 3100 Avant platform. She related that some details are often overlooked
(such as space, wiring, and temperature control) and can add significant c ost to the
project. Validation parameters were discussed including: RFU threshold, stutter
percentage, sensitivity, injection times, heterozygous peak height ratios and
mixtures.
Lisa Gefrides from the Harris County Medical Examiner's Office spoke about the
validation of the ABI 3100-Avant. One notable detail is that a variation was noted in
the sensitivity between capillaries within an array.
David Young from the Texas Department of Public Safety reported on the validation
of the ABI 7000 and the Quantifiler Kit. A "Salad Spinner" was converted into a
centrifuge by securing two tray bases at an angle with epoxy into the inside of the
bowl. This has proven to be a low cost solution (less than $20) for removing bubbles
from the trays. It was noted that pipetting reproducibility was extremely important
and that electronic pipettes helped in this matter. The internal PCR control (IPC) is
used to monitor inhibition. Parameters validated by David included: precision,
reproducibility, and sensitivity. His study concluded that the Quantifiler kit was
more sensitive than the Quantiblot kit.
Chairman George Schiro called the AFDAA Business Meeting to order at 11:22 am.
The Summer 2004 meeting minutes were presented. Secretary Aliece Watts
proposed to amend the meeting minutes to include the names and agencies of the
individuals that had been accepted for membership at the last meeting. Wil Young
proposed a motion to accept the meeting minutes with the amendment. The motion
was seconded by Joe Warren and accepted by voice vote. Catherine Caballero gave
the Treasurer's report with a current balance of $5,216.68. Numerous members had
to be dropped from membership for failure to pay dues for more than one year. A
motion to accept the Treasurer's report was proposed by Garon Foster, seconded by
Joe Warren and was passed by voice vote. A plaque was presented to Wil Young for
his years of service as AFDAA Vice-Chair. Vice Chair Brady Mills presented the
following list of new applicants to be voted upon for membership:
-Kerry Bernal, University of Nebraska Medical Center
-Diana Garcia, Texas Department of Public Safety - Austin
-D. Jody Koehler, Texas Department of Public Safety - Austin
-Robin Olson, Texas Department of Public Safety - Corpus Christi
-Ryan L. Porter, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation
-Barbara M. Scales, Scales Biological Laboratory
-Bo Scales, Scales Biological Laboratory
-Rick W. Staub, Orchid Cellmark - Dallas
-Emma J. Swartout, Identigene, Inc.
Brady Mills reminded the group that as of October 6, 2004, a person must attend at
least one meeting prior to being accepted as a member of AFDAA. A motion to
accept the new applicants as AFDAA members was made by Lonnie Ginsberg,
seconded by Gary Molina and passed by voice vote.
A proposed change to the by-laws that would require a member to attend one
meeting every three years was again discussed. References for new AFDAA
members must be an active member. Proposed by-laws changes would define
"active member", meeting attendance requirements and reference requisites. Joe
Warren asked for clarification about the meeting requirement. The amendment was
restated. Lisa Gefrides asked if inactive members should continue to pay dues
indefinitely. Shelly Steadman asked if an inactive member would become active by
attending a meeting. The consensus for both questions was "yes". The proposed
changes will be voted on at the next meeting.
Topics for the next meeting were solicited by George Schiro. Some suggestions
included: a prominent defense expert speaker, details on post-conviction DNA
defense motions, ISO accreditation, how to complete more cases, outsourcing
challenges, and lab efficiency.
-George Schiro proposed the creation of an AFDAA Historical Committee. Aliece
Watts will head up this committee with Joe Warren's assistance. Anyone with
information regarding the origins of this organization is asked to contribute.
-David Young suggested that we compile a salary scale list to be made available
to the members of this organization.
-Aliece Watts asked for a list of labs that would be open to have interns from area
Universities.
-There will be a statistics workshop at Reliagene in January.
-Joe Warren said that there were several of UNTHSC-FW Master's students that
were available for internship projects, especially validation studies.
-Joe also reported that he was in need of assistance in reviewing older cases that
had ABO and enzyme analysis. George Schiro volunteered to assist.
Wil Young moved for adjournment of the business meeting.
After lunch, Danielle Blecha from Myriad Genetics spoke about the advantages of
automation in the DNA lab. They have developed a robotics system that is
automated and includes: extraction, quantitation, normalization, and amplification.
This would greatly increase the productivity of DNA labs.
Dennis Loockerman from the Texas Department of Public Safety CODIS Lab talked
about the criteria for putting samples into SDIS. An update of the CODIS database
statistics included (approximate):
215,000 total samples received to date
33,000 offender samples received in 2004
182,000 offender samples received to date
17,000 offender samples analyzed in 2004
8,000 forensic profiles to date
370 offender hits to date
86 forensic hits to date
He reported that there have been a lot of forensic profiles added to the database, but
there is still a significant backlog.
Ron Urbanovoski from the Texas Department of Public Safety said announced that
there were no current bills before the Texas Legislature that would affect CODIS.
However, there is a proposed bill to include a requirement for a DNA sample from
all felons. This bill would create a comprehensive list of individuals who would be
required to give DNA samples.
J. Shewale from Reliagene spoke about the advantages and limitations of Y-STR
analysis. Reliagene has released the Y-Plex 12 kit. Interesting cases were also
presented.
An open discussion about "how much validation is too much?" took place. Some of
the problems or suggestions have been addressed in the new SWGDAM validation
guidelines.
DAY 2
The second day began with Laura Post from Applied Biosystems giving us updates
on several products and services. Laura related that the Y-filer kit for Y-STR analysis
has undergone developmental validation and has been shown to be effective in
detecting male DNA even in the e-fraction of differential extractions. Some
important details that she noted include:
-17 loci in one amplification, increase to 30 amplification cycles, 61°C annealing
temperature, and an 80 minute 60°C hold cycle.
-The optimal quantity to amplify is still 0.5 to 1.0 ng. The ladder is now cloned to
give balanced peak heights.
-Included in the 17 loci are tri-, penta-, and hexa-nucleotide repeats. GeneMapper
ID has been modified to include evaluation of these loci.
-There is a haplotype database containing approximately 3500 profiles that can
be accessed online to assist in statistical evaluation of profiles.
-GeneMapper ID v3.2 is Microsoft XP compatible.
-The ABI Prism 3130 and 3130XL have incorporated automatic polymer injection
that has eliminated syringes as well as other improvements.
-Software wizards and electronic security are new software enhancements.
-Demonstration CDs of GeneMapper are available.
J. Shewale from Reliagene spoke of Y-Screen, a rapid and sensitive screening method
to detect male DNA in forensic samples that utilizes alu mobile elements on the Y
chromosome. He reported that the process, currently in the developmental stage,
amplifies a single 272 bp fragment that will indicate the quality of DNA present. If
this fragment amplifies, you will almost always detect a complete profile. The peak
height will give an estimate of the quantity of male DNA present. He said a 96-well
plate format will give rapid and accurate information that potentially could replace
screening for fluids.
Angela Tanzillo-Swarz from Texas Department of Public Safety presented
information on the Biomek 2000/ DNA IQ system for automated extractions. She
related that several modifications from the manufacturer's recommendations, most
notably an initial Proteinase K digestion, have improved the instrument's
performance.
An open forum included the following topics:
-Discussion about the occurrence of laboratory personnel DNA profiles showing up
in DNA samples took place. Many labs have experienced this over the years. Some
labs have incorporated a contamination log in order to keep a record, help identify
sources, and detect trends. It was agreed that requirement of
reagent/extraction/amplification blanks help monitor possible contamination.
-Joe Warren related that the contamination possibilities have prompted their lab to
prohibit defense attorneys or experts from watching analysts work unless the
experts provide a DNA sample for exclusion purposes. In addition, the defense is
charged for the tests.
-George Schiro said that the CDC reported that UV sterilization does not eliminate all
traces of DNA on surfaces. Lisa Gefrides reported on a study she made that indicated
the UV lamp distance from the target and time exposed influences the amount of
DNA remaining on the surface or in the liquid. Swipe tests are performed by several
labs to monitor for possible amplified DNA contamination. Increased bleach
exposure time helps the situation.
The meeting was adjourned at 11:35 am.
Minutes respectively submitted by Aliece Watts, Secretary