miniPCR bio™ Electrophoresis Forensics Lab. Wrongfully Convicted? Instructor's and Student's Guide
Version: 1.1 - Release February 2022 - © 2022 by miniPCR bio™
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C. How confident would you be in using this DNA sample to convict someone of a crime?
5. Imagine that your DNA evidence was exposed to the elements for an extended time.
Because the DNA is degraded, you only get results for the first two STR locations in the
table above (D2S441 and D5S818).
A. What would the random match probability be then? Show your work.
B. The current US population is 331,000,000 (331 million). How many individuals in the
US are predicted to match your evidence DNA profile? Show your work.
C. How confident would you be in using this DNA sample to convict someone of a crime?
Scientific
notation
In fraction form In words
1E-6 1/1,000,000 one in a million
1E-9 1/1,000,000,000 one in a billion
1E-12 1/1,000,000,000,000 one in a trillion
Table 3. Interpreting scientific notation
B. Scientific notation is often used with
very small numbers. Compare the
random match probability that you
just calculated with the scientific
notation to the right. What order
of magnitude is the random match
probability?
i. On the order of one in a million
ii. On the order of one in a billion
iii. On the order of one in a trillion
