Advances in the understanding of DNA as evidence, as well as new technologies and techniques, have made statistical methods essential to the collection, analysis and interpretation of forensic data. Fung and Hu (both statistics and actuarial science, U. of Hong Kong) provide a practical guide to the analysis of DNA evidence, focusing on essential statistical methodology and computational techniques. They also provide readers with basic information on population genetics and statistics so specialists in either field can become conversant with the other. They cover parentage testing (including motherless cases) and testing for kinship (including situations in which three people are involved), interpreting mixtures of materials, interpreting mixtures in the presence of relatives, and working with lineage markers, haplotypic genetic markers for mixture, Bayesian networks, peak information, mass disasters and database searchers. They provide exercises and solutions. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Statistical methodology plays a key role in ensuring that DNA evidence is collected, interpreted, analyzed and presented correctly. With the recent advances in computer technology, this methodology is more complex than ever before. There are a growing number of books in the area but none are devoted to the computational analysis of evidence. This book presents the methodology of statistical DNA forensics with an emphasis on the use of computational techniques to analyze and interpret forensic evidence.
