Why it matters
STR markers are widely used in forensic profiling. It matters whether a case involves a limited forensic profile, a dense genealogy profile, or sequence data, because these assets support different comparisons and interpretations.
A practical example
Picture a marker with a short pattern repeated several times. A laboratory records the repeat counts at multiple locations to build a profile for comparison with another sample.
An important distinction
A forensic profile is not a whole genome. Nor does a profile match explain when or how biological material arrived at a location. Those questions require evidence about collection, transfer, and the surrounding events.
Sources and further reading
- PRIMARY SOURCE NIJ: DNA Evidence — Basics of Analyzing
The example above is hypothetical. Related cases provide context; they do not imply that every case involved this mechanism.