Promega said recently that its PowerPlex Fusion 6C system has been granted approval by the FBI for use in laboratories that generate DNA records for the National DNA Index System (NDIS).

A component of the FBI's Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), NDIS is the US national database containing nearly 12 million offender profiles used by authorities to help solve criminal investigations nationwide.

Launched in January, the PowerPlex Fusion 6C system is a 27-locus multiplex assay that combines common and informative loci, including SE33, Penta D, and Penta E, to overcome typical challenges faced by laboratories, such as sample inhibitors, low levels of input DNA, and degradation, Promega said. It also contains three Y-STR loci to improve mixture analysis that is commonly performed with crime scene samples.

The kit is capable of direct amplification with 12.5 reactions from numerous sample types, including FTA cards, non-FTA cards, and commonly used swabs, Promega noted.

"The attributes of Fusion 6C proved superior to the other options evaluated in our laboratory, while the rapidly mutating Y-STR loci, a unique feature of the kit, may lend additional power to interpreting mixtures," Learden Matthies of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office Laboratory, the sponsoring laboratory for NDIS approval submission for the PowerPlex Fusion 6C System, said in a statement.