When to Request a Low-Level DNA TrueAllele^® Screening — and What to Send

Short answer

This page should make the next step easy.

If the item is important and the current reported result is uninformative, TrueAllele screening is a simple way to find out whether the same DNA data may still help.

When Should You Send a Case for Free Screening?

A TrueAllele screening makes sense when:

• the item is important to the case
• the current result is reported as limited, mixed, or inconclusive
• the evidence is low-level, touch, degraded, or hard to interpret
• you need a practical answer about whether the same data has useful information

What to Send First

Start with:

• For key evidence items, the lab’s electronic data (.fsa or .hid)
• For reference profiles (victim/elimination/POI), either allele lists or electronic data files
• Allelic ladder files for any electronic data
• the current report, if available
• the lab item numbers and descriptions
• your forensic case question

For more information on what to request from the lab, see the Sending Cases for TrueAllele Processing page.

What Investigators Should Gather Before Reopening a Lead

It also helps to include:

• case context (does not affect TrueAllele interpretation)
• whether the case is active, cold, or approaching trial
• whether there is already a person of interest

What Happens After TrueAllele Screening

The goal is simple: determine whether the same DNA data may still help advance the evidence.

In our recent peer-reviewed Heliyon paper, we document why low-level and mixed evidence can lose value under limited reporting, which helps explain why TrueAllele screening can matter before an important item is written off.

Ready to Submit?

Tell us about your case. We’ll review it and tell you if we can get more information from the DNA data.

Free Screening

We don’t retest physical evidence items. We interpret the electronic DNA data a lab already generated.