Researchers in Syracuse University's Forensic and National Security Sciences Institute (FNSSI) are using a major grant award to acquire a powerful, new instrument for forensic genomic analysis.
The recipients are Michael Marciano, a FNSSI senior scientist; Kevin Sweder, a FNSSI professor and director of the Center for Bioforensics, Biosecurity, and Biometrics; and Robert B. Murrett, FNSSI Fellow and deputy director of the Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism and professor of practice of public administration and international relations in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.
All three have received a Defense University Research Instrumentation Program award, valued at $126,250, from the Department of the Army. They will use the award to purchase a newly released forensics genomics system known as the Illumina MiSeq FGx.
FNSSI is an all-University institute, administered by the College of Arts and Sciences.
The Illumina MiSeq FGx, in addition to standard DNA sequencing capabilities, is designed to address the challenges of forensic analysis. In particular, it can process samples with very low DNA content—something that is useful in a field where collected samples often contain trace amounts of genetic material.
"This sequencer is a big step forward in our ability to perform forensic analysis of complex DNA samples, which allow for detailed outcomes, including geospatial and other signatures," Murrett says.
The Illumina MiSeq FGx will be used by graduate and undergraduate students, affording them state-of-the-art, hands-on training in next-generation sequencing technology. "It certainly provides a learning experience that they would not get otherwise," says Sweder.