POPULATION-GENETICS OF COINCIDENTAL DNA MATCHES

The DNA profiles of two unrelated individuals can match (complete simi larity) by chance alone. When the two individuals are related, the pro bability of a coincidental match is higher. Here, I deal with the prob abilities of coincidental matches for both related and unrelated indiv iduals. The derivation starts from first principles; no prior knowledg e is required. The results obtained by the method developed here are c ompared with some other methods.