The forensic science of becoming a winning contestant on The Price Is Right: 5 Tips from a Sore Loser
Last week I had the opportunity to travel to Burbank, California, where I was interviewed as a forensic DNA expert for a Discovery Channel show - an incredible experience that is a story for another day. But, that is how I ended up with a free afternoon in the land of show biz. And there was only one thing that I knew was happening in Burbank on a regular basis - live tapings of The Price Is Right in front of a studio audience - and last week that included me! I'd been a fan of America's favorite game show "TPIR" since before I could walk -- my babysitter would watch the show on our family tv every day while she was folding laundry. I think many boomers and Gen Xers feel the same nostalgia about TPIR as I do. And today, I still watch the program any chance I can get. It has always been on my bucket list to be on a game show one day, and last week I made it happen.
So, you ask... why am I a "sore loser"? Well, I left the show with a throat that was raw from cheering so much, and hands that stung from clapping for nearly 3 hours straight, that I was physically in pain that evening! No wonder TPIR tickets are free - it's actually a lot of effort to be an active member of the studio audience! And the loser part? Well, I wasn't a contestant, so I didn't play a game, which means I didn't win anything - incluing the $100 raffle at the end. So maybe "sore loser" isn't the right phrase to describe my feelings about TPIR, as I had a blast and would do it all over again in a heartbeat. Maybe I should call myself a just a "non-winner in pain!"
Anyway, back to my 5 tips for anyone else who dreams of getting "called on down" to be the next contestant on The Price Is Right! As a scientist, I make a living out of collecting data and making observations to come up with testable hypotheses in my own field of forensic genetics. But here I've applied my skills to show business, outlining a testable strategy to be a winning contestant on my favorite game show, TPIR. Read on if you want to get lucky and improve your odds of being a winning contestant on TPIR!
1. Go with a group. Do not go alone - you will look like a "sore loser" like me! The Price Is Right seems like an individual sport, but 100% of the 9 selected contestants on the show were members of a team. The team could be a 2-player married couple celebrating a milestone anniversary. Or, the team could be a family visiting LA on vacation, or a group of coworkers on a teambuilding activity. Why do team members make better contestants? Because the entire team is allowed to stand up and cheer when someone in their group gets "called on down"! This is the inside knowledge that I learned from going to the show myself. Everyone else in the audience -- who is not on that person's team -- has to remain seated; only the group gets to stand up and cheer. This looks great on TV - it shows that the contestant has a big group of supporters in their life. If you go to the show solo like me, who is going to stand up and cheer for you? No one! No one else can! Not even the friendly person sitting next to you. They can't stand up to cheer since they aren't parcel to your party of 1. No team? No play. No win.
2. Wear a bright colored t-shirts with a custom theme for your team. On my episode, eight of the 9 contestants followed this rule, a whopping 89%. The only person who didn't wear a theme t-shirt was Ruby - her team just wore their own, colorful outfits with bright pink as a theme color, although the outfits were each completely unique. But Ruby is the exception to the rule. My advice is to just have everyone on the team do their part and wear the team t-shirt. Some wore plain, colorful t-shirts. As for which color to use - green seemed to be the lucky color for my show, as 3 of the 9 contestants wore green! Bright colors also look great on TV --fluorescent yellow and fluorescent orange made it to contestant's row. And no white, black or neutral, per the rules. Once you've picked a team color, customize your team shirt to make it stand out from the crowd. Bedazzle them, add dollar signs, or write a message TPIR message for the host of the show. Any customization is great - it doesn't have to be expensive or fancy - crafty works if you want to decorate the t-shirts by hand. To go the extra mile, get a custom screenprinter and put Drew's face on your t-shirt. Or your dog's face with a TPIR sale tag next to it that says "priceless". Make it catchy, cheesy, corny, or just plain cute. But for the best chance of getting on stage, make sure your team has a bright, custom-themed t-shirt!
3. Show your personality! Don't be shy, that's not what being on TV is all about. You don't have to be the biggest attention seeker of the group, although that person -- Melody from Texas -- was indeed the 5th person called down by George to play the game on my episode. During the wait for the auditioning process, Melody was dancing, woo-hooing, cheering, smiling, and all-around bubbly, when everyone else was sitting down in their seats. Melody also followed rules 1 and 2 - she came with a team, wearing handmade white pants and a lucky green TPIR themed t-shirt. The other 8 contestants weren't incredibly outgoing, but they were certainly energetic. The youngest girl to get called down, Gina, who also followed rules 1 and 2 like Melody - was incredibly animated. To me, she looked like an actress in a high school play the entire time she was on stage. Her facial expressions were exaggerated, her gestures were dramatic - putting her hands up to her head and making jaw dropping gasps - she was like a mime that could talk! The other contestants were cool and comfortable in their own skin, with affable personalities. One lady rolled her way down the aisle to contestants' row. And this was totally encouraged by the producer - he encouraged us to do cartwheels, jump and hug every person around us, squeal and dance, or make it exciting in any way shape or form if we are called on down -- this is TV after all! After rules 1 and 2, personality is the special sauce to getting on camera.
4. If you get called down, remember that TPIR is a game show, and it is totally OK and to play dirty! You are there to win but also to entertain the audience and millions of viewers watching on tv! Go ahead and make that $1 bet when you know everyone else overbid! There was one missed opportunity for a $1 bid win on my show. It was a flat screen TV, and all 4 contestants overbid during the first round, so a second round of bidding started with a max of $900. Aside from the $1 lowballer's classic, don't be scared to go $1 more than the highest wager when everybody lowballed a big ticket item. Do what you can to win that round of bidding at contestants row! And if you have to bet first, listen to the audience and go in with a solid opening wager. We are there to help! Plus, it's even more exciting when your bet hits the exact price and you get cash on the spot from none other than Drew Carey!
5. For those who get to go up on stage, listen to your group members when you play the game! You are supposed to interact with the audience - those of us who are sitting out there are being told to help you bet! The producers want you to win that brand new car -- that is what makes good TV! This isn't The Biggest Loser! TPIR wants you to win that brand new car, and the audience members are there to help you do it. Why should you trust the audience over your own price guessing skills and financial acumen? Because unlike you, all flustered up there looking at Drew Carey and a bunch of expensive prizes - we in the audience are not being put on the spot like a deer in headlights. From our seats in the audience, we can see the prizes on an overhead tv screen, and without the stagefright, we can better estimate their cost. Someone out there will know the exact price and be shouting out numbers to help you win! This is a TEAM game, remember? The goal is to make sure that your little yodeling hiker doesn't go over the mountain on Cliffhanger. Some games require some luck, like Three Strikes where you may end up picking the 3 red balls before getting a chance to guess the right price, which happened during my episode. Yet many of the games can be won without needing any luck or putting skills. So turn around and listen to the audience-- we ALL want you to win that Showcase Showdown!
So next time you're in LA with your family and friends, get some free tickets to TPIR and follow these 5 tips to get lucky! Maybe YOU will be the next contestant on The Price Is Right!
The Role of Mitochondrial DNA in 3-Parent IVF Babies: What Does It Mean for Forensic Science?
Recently, the first 8 babies conceived through mitochondrial replacement therapy (MRT)—popularly known as “three-parent IVF”—made international headlines. Using DNA from three people, this assisted reproductive technology was developed to prevent the transmission of devastating mitochondrial diseases encoded in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). But what happens when these children grow up and their DNA is tested—for ancestry, genealogy, or even forensic identification?
As a mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) expert and forensic scientist, I’ve spent my career tracing maternal lineages in modern casework and historical remains. MRT babies present a fascinating case study in how medical innovation may quietly disrupt assumptions in forensic DNA testing.
How Mitochondrial DNA Enables "Three-Parent Babies"
The IVF method used in these cases is called pronuclear transfer (PNT). Here’s how it works: an egg from a healthy donor provides healthy mtDNA, the chromosomal DNA in the nucleus is removed, and then the nuclear DNA from the parents is transferred into the donor’s enucleated or "nucleus-lacking" egg. The resulting embryo carries nuclear DNA from the intended parents and mtDNA from the donor—hence the nickname “three-parent baby.”
In the U.K., MRT is offered to women with homoplasmic (100%) or high-level heteroplasmic (>~75%) mtDNA mutations—meaning nearly all of their mtDNA sequences have disease-causing - pathogenic - variants. The eight babies born under the mitochondrial donation program had maternal mtDNA mutations linked to conditions like Leber Hereditary Optic Neuropathy (LHON) and rare tRNA-related disorders causing a range of symptoms including vision loss, myopathy, cardiomyopathy, hearing loss, and neurological defects.
But... Some Children Still Carried Low-Levels of the mother's unhealthy mtDNA
Ideally, all the unhealthy maternal mtDNA with pathogenic variants is excluded during the PNT process. But in 3 of the 8 cases, researchers detected small amounts of maternal mtDNA carried over into the donor egg. Human egg cells typically contain 30–35 copies of mtDNA, and the transfer process can inadvertently bring along a few mtDNA molecules in the mother's cytoplasm. Therefore, in blood samples from the 3 infants, low levels of the mother's pathogenic variants (5%–16%) were detected using quantitative pyrosequencing. This mixture of the mother's mtDNA and the donor's mtDNA resulted in heteroplasmy, where two mitochondrial lineages coexist within the same individual. The good news: since mitochondrial diseases are dose-dependent, the low levels of the mother's pathogenic mtDNA resulted in all eight babies being healthy at birth and continuing to show normal development, according to recent follow-up studies.
Implications of Mitochondrial Replacement Therapy on Genetic Testing Results
As the MRT children grow up, many will undergo genetic testing—voluntarily or otherwise. Geneticists must be prepared for the possibility that a person’s mtDNA profile may not match their biological mother. Here’s why that matters:
1. Maternal Lineage Breaks
Most mtDNA testing assumes maternal inheritance. In MRT cases, the mtDNA originates from a third-party donor, not the biological mother. This changes the maternal mtDNA lineage of the MRT individual, impacting genetic ancestry results and lineage tracing for genetic genealogy.
2. Apparent Mixtures in mtDNA
In individuals with low-level heteroplasmy, labs may observe a mixture of two mtDNA haplotypes. This could be mistaken for contamination, sample mixing, or the presence of multiple contributors.
What This Means for the Future of Forensic DNA Testing
As MRT and germline editing advance—this calls us to question what makes us unique in terms of our DNA. Forensic geneticists have long focused on "junk" DNA - noncoding markers that do not impact disease states. Therefore forensic DNA markers are unlikely to be written out of someone's genetic code through genetic editing. But mitochondrial DNA can now be wholly replaced as a method of disease prevention. This calls us to question whether our mitochondrial DNA belongs to us at all.
FBI-QAS Update
It’s SWGDAM week—and I’m still here at my kitchen table
Although I’m no longer a voting member of SWGDAM (the Scientific Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods) since leaving AFDIL in May, I still serve as an SME on the NGS Committee, which makes me something of a SWGDAM emeritus (minus the pension). Even though I’m not in the room this week, the new 2025 Quality Assurance Standards (QAS) was published on July 1st, so it’s a good time to break down what changed. To double-check my memory—I voted on these revisions last year—I ran a PDF-to-Word compare documents against the 2020 edition and flagged every noteworthy revision. Below is the “tldr” version for busy lab managers who don’t have an afternoon to comb through 50 pages of standards.
1. Coursework requirements:
Then (2020): Technical Leaders needed 12 credit hours in biochemistry, genetics, molecular biology, and stats/population genetics in a combination of undergraduate and graduate courses.
Now (2025): Technical Leaders need 9 credit hours in any biology/chemistry courses that underpin DNA analysis plus dedicated coursework in statistics or population genetics, with one course of these required courses at the graduate level. Analysts now follow the same 9 hours + stats formula, though at the undergraduate level.
Why it matters: This is a softening of the language to allow for varied course titles covering the same content, which eases the administrative burden on hiring managers and technical leaders. Previously, if someone's transcript showed "Forensic Molecular Biology" instead of “Molecular Biology," then a syllabus, letter from the instructor, or other document was necessary to demonstrate compliance with the course requirement. The revision to the technical leader coursework to separate statistics/pop-gen from the other DNA-focused courses reinforces that this is foundational knowledge in the age of probabilistic genotyping.
2. Validation:
The revised language is more streamlined so that there is less of a distinction between developmental validation and internal validation. This is a welcome change now that more labs are performing their own developmental validations for Next-Generation Sequencing / Massively Parallel Sequencing. It lets a lab that conduct its owndevelopmental validation treat that work as the internal validation as well, rather than repeating an “internal” study when following the QAS word-for-word.
3. Quantification:
Standard 9.4.2 now permits labs to quantify DNA during or after nuclear DNA (i.e. STR) amplification, if the kit has internal QC and your validation shows equivalence. This change allows for Rapid DNA chemistries that combine qPCR and STR amplification in a single assay to be utilized on forensic casework samples.
4. Proficiency testing:
When an ISO-accredited proficiency test provider doesn’t offer an appropriate test, Standard 13.1 now allows labs to meet the requirement by monitoring performance “in accordance with the laboratory's accreditation requirement.” This change effectively opens the door for peer-lab sample swaps for proficiency testing, although it seems that the external proficiency test is still stipulated in 13.1 —and it is an ISO17025 requirement as well. It remains to be seen whether labs will interpret this standard to mean that in-house proficiency testing is a viable option.
5. Editorial and housekeeping tweaks
Proper nouns: “Technical Leader” and “Casework CODIS Administrator” get capital letters throughout.
Rapid DNA and NDIS: a raft of new language appears, but I’ll leave that to the Rapid/NDIS specialists.
Audit cadence & other nips/tucks: minor wording changes tighten timelines and definitions; skim the header bullets in each section before your next internal audit.
Definitions: updated to reflect the content changes throughout the document.
Final thoughts from the kitchen table
The 2025 Forensic DNA Testing Laboratory QAS revisions look subtle on the surface, but they impact hiring, training plans, validation budgets, and proficiency-testing logistics. The new standards reflect diversification in DNA methods, advancements in statistical analysis that now represent foundational knowledge, and accommodations for fast-moving technologies that outpace accrediting bodies such as proficiency testing vendors. The new QAS signals a forensic DNA community that has (rapidly) outgrown its standards with changing technology, so some of the rules just don't fit anymore. With written guidance in place in these 2025 revisions, SWGDAM is loosening the belt and able to make some room to grow.
Questions or implementation war stories? Drop a comment—or ping me; emeritus status still comes with unlimited QAS nerd-outs. has outgrown its old standards
FORCE IN FOCUS
One of my personal goals for my summer “sabbatical” is to finish drafting an inter-laboratory study that—I'm embarrassed to admit—was presented more than two years ago. For whatever reason, this paper always got backburnered on my to-do list. And frankly, now I have no excuse but to get it done. So what am I doing now? Procrastinating just a tiny bit more with this blog post? No, definitely not! In order to gain inspiration and knowledge in preparation for this writing effort, I've done a literature review of the papers that have put the FORCE into action. And now that I have a blog, I've decided to put that information into a nice, tidy package in the form of a blog post.
For those who don't know what THE FORCE is, other than a form of Jedi superpower, below is a summary of the FORCE panel research development—from inception to methodological advances and case studies. I hope you enjoy learning more about the FORCE!
1. FORCE Panel Inception (Tillmar et al. 2021)
When my coauthors and I published the FORCE panel in 2021, we set out to resolve a familiar headache in forensic genetics: the need to run separate assays for kinship, ancestry, phenotype and sex-chromosome analysis. Instead of juggling multiple kits, we consolidated 5,422 SNPs into a single myBaits hybridization-capture and Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) / Massively Parallel Sequencing (MPS) workflow. The panel combined ~4,000 autosomal markers to predict kinship from close and distant relatives (up to fifth-degree relatives, such as first cousins twice removed). It also included dozens of X- and Y-SNPs, plus smaller sets of identity, ancestry, and phenotype-informative SNPs—all carefully chosen to avoid any medically informative positions. In our proof-of-concept experiments, high-quality control DNA samples yielded 99 percent of FORCE targets with concordance above 99.9 percent when compared to microarray genotypes. Even degraded World War II bone samples produced roughly 44 percent of the FORCE SNPs using forensic genotyping thresholds, supporting even distant relationship predictions when comparing the expected relationship versus unrelated. By striving for maximum informativeness with a privacy-forward, cost-effective design, the FORCE panel provided a novel, robust assay for both reference-quality known and challenging unknown forensic samples.
2. Streamlined Amplicon Workflow (Staadig et al. 2023)
Realizing that many forensic laboratories would welcome a simpler, faster NGS/MPS workflow than hybridization-capture, Staadig et al. revisited the FORCE in 2023 with a QIAseq amplicon-plus-UMI protocol. Rather than hybridizing DNA with tens of thousands of baits in an overnight incubation procedure, the QIAseq approach adds unique molecular index (UMI) identifiers to each template DNA molecule for NGS/MPS library prep in a single-day laboratory workflow. The QIAseq approach was very effective: at inputs as low as 250 picograms (pg), SNP genotyping accuracy was above 99.9 percent, and the streamlined single-primer extension plus magnetic-bead clean-ups slashed hands-on time. For labs processing dozens of casework samples weekly—often under tight deadlines—this target enrichment alternative made the FORCE panel more accessible.
3. Disaster Victim Identification Benchmark (Gettings et al. JFS 2024)
In our 2024 paper, we put the FORCE to the test for its effectiveness relative to other SNP panels for disaster victim identification (DVI). This analysis was done as a theoretical experiment based on a true, historical disaster scenario of Kenya Air Flight 507. We benchmarked five leading SNP assays—Precision ID, Signature Prep, OmniSNP, QIAseq FORCE and ForenSeq Kintelligence HT—across hundreds of ante- and post-mortem samples. We found that while the cheapest option, Signature Prep, matched other panels’ kinship power at a steep time and cost premium, QIAseq FORCE sat squarely in the sweet spot. At roughly $200 per sample and a 42-hour extract-to-answer timeframe, it delivered robust first-degree kinship performance—making it the go-to choice for DVI teams by balancing cost, speed and reliability.
4. Non-Traditional Reference Types (Ghemrawi et al. 2024)
Beyond controlled validations, real-world case studies have further tested the power of the FORCE. In a recent study led by Mirna Ghemrawi and colleagues at the Center for Forensic Science Research and Education, we asked whether the panel could handle unconventional reference types—hair roots, hair shafts, and fingernail clippings—by testing them against matching buccal swab DNA profiles. The answer was yes: all sample types yielded over 99.9 percent SNP concordance with expected genotypes with high coverage uniformity. Remarkably, fingernails proved the most robust of these “non-traditional” references, recovering virtually 100 percent of SNPs. Hair roots and hair shafts—despite their higher degradation indices—still delivered 84–97 percent and 48–96 percent of loci, respectively, at high accuracy. Phenotype, ancestry, and Y-haplogroup predictions from all alternative materials matched buccal-derived results perfectly, and both MiSeq FGx and NextSeq 550 platforms produced comparable coverage and call rates. These findings underscore that when buccal swabs aren’t an option, fingernails—and even hair shafts—can serve as reliable sources for high-density SNP profiling in forensic casework.
5. Historical Case Study: “Schinderhannes” (Parson et al. 2025)
Perhaps the most interesting proof of concept came in 2025, when Walther Parson and colleagues used the FORCE to finally unmask the true identity of “Schinderhannes,” an 18th-century outlaw long thought to lie entombed in Heidelberg alongside his accomplice. Using hybridization capture, they recovered over 3,500 kinship SNPs from the remains. By comparing bone-derived DNA from skull, ribs, femur and even toe fragments to DNA from a living great-great-grandnephew’s buccal sample, the kinship inference statistics supported the expected 5th-degree relationship with high likelihood ratios (versus unrelated). Mitochondrial DNA haplotypes and phenotype-informative SNPs—predicting brown hair, brown eyes and pale-intermediate skin—aligned with historical accounts, conclusively restoring the outlaw’s name after more than two centuries.
6. The FORCE at GRC 2025
Just a few weeks ago at the Gordon Research Conference on Forensic DNA in Newry, Maine, Magnus Vigeland shared an application of the FORCE to an unpublished forensic case. Magnus and his team used the AmpliSeq FORCE workflow to demonstrate how imputation, identity by descent, and X-chromosomal SNPs could provide an identification.
Building on these innovations and applications to forensic casework, Andreas Tillmar and I are now preparing the most rigorous test of the FORCE panel yet: a multi-continental, international, inter-laboratory study that runs the same set of DNA samples through various FORCE panel target enrichment and NGS/MPS methods. These include hybridization capture, QIAseq, AmpliSeq, and xGen on both Illumina and Ion sequencing platforms. We’re evaluating genotype concordance, sensitivity, and cross-site consistency of FORCE panel SNP calls. Over the next few weeks, I’ll continue working with Andreas to write up the results of the consolidated datasets, so that by month’s end we can submit a fully polished manuscript to our coauthors for review. Our goal is simple: let the data show us how best to harness the power of the FORCE.
I Took Elon Musk’s Fork in the Road, and I’m Having the Time of My Life.
In June of 2023, I started what many would consider a dream job: Deputy Director of DNA Operations at the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System. A GS-14 position, federal benefits, honorable mission—on paper, it was everything I had worked toward. But when the Department of Defense offered the Deferred Resignation Program (DRP) this spring, I made a decision that surprised even me: I took the fork in the road.
I wasn’t eligible for early retirement, and I wasn't vested in the federal pension system. I had only two of the five years required. But I’d spent over a decade as a contractor in forensic genetics—working under six-month extensions, rolling over my 401(k) with each new employer, and always aware that my job security was not a guarantee. While I believed in the mission, I wasn't exactly rooted. So when the DRP gave me a chance to take a summer “sabbatical,” I did.
Since May 16, my last day in the office, I’ve started a business, launched a website, applied for grants, written a book proposal, and reconnected with my life in ways I didn’t expect.
I started with what I knew—genetics—and what I didn’t—business. Living in Delaware, the incorporation capital of the U.S., I filed an LLC. I didn’t know how to begin, so I asked ChatGPT. My AI assistant, who named herself Eloise, helped me design a logo, build a website, and set up social media accounts. With her help, I’ve built DNAID Services, LLC, a consulting company that lets me support clients in my line of work while I also pursue research and writing projects
I applied for a National Science Foundation Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant and other fellowships for career transition. But my biggest project right now is a nonfiction book. I’ve always loved writing, but never dreamed of becoming an author. Now, I’m testing whether I can build a life around it.
Personally, I’ve never felt more present. I walk an hour a day listening to podcasts that inspire me and teach me something new—The Diary of a CEO is a favorite. I’ve cut out alcohol entirely, which has improved my sleep and mental clarity. And I’ve stopped outsourcing my grocery shopping and meal planning to Instacart and DoorDash. I’m cooking again—chicken tacos on Tuesdays, peach cobbler from the farmers market. These small things, once pushed to the side because of stress, are now part of how I take care of my family.
Even more meaningful: I’ve shown up for my kids in ways I never could before. I chaperoned a school field trip to the beach. I drove my son to school every morning, trading rushed drop-offs for quiet conversations. My husband recently told me: “I have my wife back.”
There’s no roadmap or plan for what I’m doing. I still don’t know exactly where this path will lead. But the uncertainty feels far less scary than it may seem to be from the outside. When Musk suggested life choices as either “doing something meaningful or watching Netflix,” I didn’t expect to find a third option: starting something new without knowing how it ends.
I took the fork in the road. And I’m finally finding my own way.