Thermo Fisher Scientific says it has cleared a key federal hurdle in the push to speed up crime lab work, announcing today that the Applied Biosystems RapidINTEL Plus sample cartridge has been approved by the FBI’s National DNA Index System (NDIS) for use with qualifying crime scene samples. According to the company, that signoff means forensic profiles generated with Thermo Fisher’s RapidHIT ID workflow can be searched against the national CODIS database once laboratories meet FBI accreditation and quality assurance requirements. Supporters in law enforcement say the move could shrink turnaround times for investigatory DNA leads from days or weeks to just a few hours.
Company Calls It A Milestone
As reported by The Daily Reflector, Thermo Fisher says the RapidHIT ID system, paired with the RapidINTEL Plus cartridge, is the first rapid DNA workflow eligible to generate CODIS searchable crime scene profiles when FBI standards are satisfied. "This approval represents a major milestone for forensic DNA and the criminal justice community," Ravi Gupta said in the company release, while Cheryl Carreiro said the decision unlocks the full potential of rapid DNA for forensic investigations. For a field that usually measures progress in incremental protocol tweaks, those are unusually big words.
How CODIS Eligibility Works
The FBI’s Rapid DNA guidance from the FBI lays out six conditions that must be in place before a forensic rapid DNA profile can be searched or uploaded to CODIS. The work has to be carried out under an ISO/IEC 17025 accredited CODIS laboratory, comply with the 2025 Quality Assurance Standards, use an NDIS approved forensic cartridge, undergo laboratory validation, receive review from a qualified analyst and involve evidence that meets CODIS eligibility rules.
On its Rapid DNA page, the FBI lists Applied Biosystems RapidINTEL Plus (part number A54338) among the NDIS-approved forensic sample cartridges. That formal listing is the step that allows modified rapid DNA casework using RapidINTEL Plus to be treated as eligible for national CODIS searches when all the other criteria are satisfied.
Quicker Leads, Not A Replacement
Rapid DNA systems are designed to generate short tandem repeat profiles in roughly one to two hours, which can give investigators actionable leads far sooner than conventional lab workflows. Thermo Fisher’s product materials say the RapidHIT ID workflow, when paired with RapidINTEL Plus, can deliver lab-quality forensic profiles within hours and is intended to complement, not replace, established forensic procedures that crime labs already rely on.
Independent multi-laboratory testing has evaluated RapidINTEL Plus performance and has been used to shape validation guidance for forensic use, with those findings presented in federal and standards-focused forums. The message from those discussions has essentially been that if you are going to go fast, you still have to prove you can be just as careful.
What It Means For Investigations
Despite the NDIS approval, RapidINTEL Plus is not headed straight into every crime lab’s daily workflow. Forensic laboratories and their law enforcement partners still need to complete instrument-specific validation studies, maintain the required accreditation, and ensure analyst training before RapidINTEL Plus casework can be entered into CODIS.
Because those steps demand time, staff and money, adoption is expected to roll out gradually from state to state and lab to lab. Proponents argue that even a relatively small number of fully validated sites could help speed suspect identification and victim recovery in high-priority cases once they are online.
Oversight, Validation And Privacy
The rapid expansion of DNA technology has long fueled debate among forensic scientists and civil liberties advocates, who have called for strong oversight, conservative validation, and clear public-facing policies to minimize errors or overreach as databasing capabilities grow. Scientific and legal reviews have emphasized that careful, independent validation and strict adherence to laboratory standards remain the primary safeguards for both evidence integrity and privacy protections as rapid DNA tools like RapidINTEL Plus become more widely available.
