Identitas Corp., a leader in forensic phenotyping, and AKESOgen, the genomics and biorepository services company, have signed a global commercial partnership to offer the forensic industry an innovative turn-key phenotypic screening solution that allows investigators to generate more comprehensive leads from DNA samples than had previously been possible. Financial terms were not disclosed.

"Our unique technology creates highly specific phenotypic predictions from DNA, combining inferences on biogeographic ancestry, extended relatedness/kinship, gender, Y and mitochondrial haplotype, and physical appearance such as hair and eye color. ISAS is able to generate investigative leads rapidly using only a single aliquot of DNA. We evaluate genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), to extract greater insight from DNA samples than has previously been possible," said Dr Aruna Bansal, CIO of Identitas.

"We are excited to be working with Identitas to provide a comprehensive solution which we believe is unique in the forensic market and will have tremendous utility for enhanced phenotyping of individuals for a variety of applications including missing person identification as well as investigative lead generation, to complement standard panels such as CODIS," commented Dr Mark Bouzyk, CSO of AKESOgen.

The partnership will harness the combined strengths of both companies:  AKESOgen will provide an end-to-end genetic analysis package powered by Identitas's proprietary ISAS software analysis tool. ISAS employs a computationally powerful approach that interrogates single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to develop a profile that describes the physical appearance of an individual. AKESOgen has entered in to a license agreement with Identitas for access to the ISAS software, enabling customers a seamless delivery of an enhanced phenotypic profile from receipt of DNA.