Genetic Identification Erasmus MC

We are thrilled that our study on establishing the concept of universal is finally published in Genome Biology! Well done to the group of our Department, and especially to our PhD student Benjamín Planterose 👏

In a nutshell, we have isolated a stochastic component of DNA (epigenetic) variation in blood that seems to be different in all individuals, including monozygotic twins! How exciting to be able to validate our findings across technologies and tissues, and we look forward to apply this knowledge in practice, such as for differentiating identical twins that are involved in , and cases. Beyond forensics, we also envision further implications of our findings that branch out into regarding the of human beings 🙌

Equivalent DNA methylation variation between monozygotic co-twins and unrelated individuals reveals universal epigenetic inter-individual dissimilarity

Still very excited about our participation to the 28th International ISFG Congress in Prague two weeks ago! A week full of knowledge exchange, updates on ongoing forensic genetics research and active networking!

The Genetic Identification Department was well represented with two great talks from Arwin Ralf presenting on complex hypervariable STR markers for the deconvolution of complex DNA mixtures, Celia Díez López on a novel taxonomy-independent deep neural network microbiome approach for the classification of forensically-relevant human biomaterials, and four posters on Y-SNPs and epigenetics!

Counting down and already working on exciting projects for the next ISFG Congress in Washignton DC in September 2021!



Athena Vidaki, Gabriela Daňková, Lucie Hildegarda Kulhánková, Vivian Kalamara, Celia DL, Diego Montiel, Benjamín Planterose

We are happy to announce that our team ‘I-Lab-U’ has won the 250th Jubilee Anniversary scientific competition of the Batavian Society of Experimental Philosophy! 🥇

The team from our Department aims to experimentally improve the connection between scientists and the public by creating a new science communication tool based on speed dating. For more info, stay tuned!

Well done to all involved 👏🏽 Athena Vidaki Gabriela Daňková Celia DL Lucie Hildegarda Kulhánková Vivian Kalamara Diego Montiel Benjamín Planterose

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