REGIONAL GENETIC-VARIATION IN CAUCASIANS

When evaluating DNA evidence, the necessary calculations are often car ried out using databases drawn from broad populations; for example, th e Forensic Science Service (FSS) maintains genetic databases for the 3 major racial groups of England and Wales-Caucasian, Afro-Caribbean an d Asian (from the Indian subcontinent). The resulting figures may be c hallenged in court on the premise that they are not based on data from the population of most relevance in the particular case under conside ration. One important factor might be the location of the crime. Since the recent establishment of a National DNA Intelligence Database, dat a have been made available from a wide range of geographical regions i n England and Wales. This paper gives details of analyses conducted to measure the differentiation between white Caucasian populations from these regions and from other areas of the UK and abroad using a Bayesi an approach. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserve d.