Evaluation of the impact of genetic linkage in forensic identity and relationship testing for expanded DNA marker sets

Highlights • A biostatistical tool for analyzing the overall effect of linkage on likelihood calculations in various forensic genetic case scenarios is presented. • The tool is provided as a command script via the open-source platform R and is prepared with reference data for over 40 STRs and 140 SNPs. • The tool can be used during marker selection and the design of new marker panels or applied to existing marker sets to examine the effect of linkage on a case-by-case basis. • Studies of existing forensic marker panels show the impact of linkage is generally small, but may be more considerable in individual cases.