Commercially Available STR Multiplex Kits

Kits from commercial sources are now predominantly used by labs around the world for their ease of use and high discriminatory power.

 

For further information, see Butler, J.M. (2006) Genetics and genomics of core STR loci used in human identity testing. J. Forensic Sci. 51(2): 253-265.

[Explanation of STR Multiplexes]  [STR Fact Sheets]
 

STR Kits from Applied Biosystems (Foster City, CA)

 

STR Kits from Promega Corporation (Madison, WI)

 

STR Kits from QIAGEN N.V. (Venlo, NL)

 

STR Kits from Biotype (Dresden, Germany)

 

STR Kit from Beckman Coulter (Brea, CA)

 

Non-Commercial Published Multiplexes (not up-to-date)

 

Explanation of STR Multiplexes:  

The desire to gain more information from a sample, coupled with the need to limit consumption of a DNA sample where its availability may be limited (such as evidence from a crime scene) has led to the co-amplification and typing of multiple STR systems. Multiplex PCR, which involves adding more than one set of PCR primers to the reaction in order to target multiple locations throughout the genome, is an ideal technique for DNA typing because the probability of identical alleles in two individuals decreases with an increase in the number of polymorphic loci examined. The advent of fluorescent labeling of the PCR primers permits the multiplexing of STR loci which may have alleles that fall in the same size range by labeling the overlapping loci with different colored fluorescent dyes that can then be resolved spectrally.  

 

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Last Updated: 04/17/2013