Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Snapshot
General
- What is Snapshot?
Snapshot is a forensic analysis service developed by Parabon that uses modern SNP technology to generate a composite sketch from a DNA sample — a process known as DNA Phenotyping. A Snapshot composite includes sex, ancestry, pigmentation (skin color, hair color, eye color, freckling), and even face morphology. A statistical confidence measure accompanies each phenotype prediction, and phenotype ranges that can be excluded with ≥90% confidence are also reported.
- What type of analysis/reporting does Snapshot provide?
There are two Parabon Snapshot services:
The Parabon Snapshot DNA Phenotyping service reports sex, genetic ancestry — both on a global (e.g., European) and subcontinental (e.g., Scandinavian) scale — eye color, hair color, skin color, freckling, and face morphology. The data is presented in a report with a predicted composite sketch of the individual, along with detailed supporting information that goes into making the composite. A Snapshot sample report can be requested here.
The Parabon Snapshot Kinship service provides probabilistic inferences about the familial relationship between two or more DNA samples, out to six degrees of relatedness (second cousins once removed).
- How does Snapshot work?
Snapshot takes advantage of modern SNP technology. Using bioinformatics pipelines and predictive models developed by Parabon, Snapshot reads genetic content from DNA, which in turn has allowed the creation of datasets that include both genotypic (genetic content) and phenotypic (trait) data for each of thousands of subjects. With the diligent and repeated application of data mining and machine learning processes to such data, Parabon produces statistical models that translate the presence of specific genetic biomarkers into forensically relevant trait predictions.
For more information, please see the following scientific posters we presented at the International Symposium on Human Identification (ISHI):
- What's the difference between STRs and SNPs and why is SNP analysis better?
STR analysis is only useful for matching a sample to a known suspect or a database. The Snapshot technology uses the information about physical appearance encoded in SNPs to generate new leads about unknown suspects.
- Who has used the Snapshot DNA Analysis Service so far?
The development of Snapshot was funded by the United States Department of Defense (DOD), specifically the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. As part of the development and validation process, Snapshot has been tested on thousands of out-of-sample genotypes and has been shown to be extremely accurate. In addition to the DOD, Snapshot has been used by more than 100 law enforcement agencies throughout the US, and around the world on hundreds of cases.
Please see our gallery of Published Police Investigations to see some Snapshot posters from cases police have disclosed publicly. Also, please visit the testimonial page on our website to read what our customers are saying about how Snapshot has helped them in their investigations.
