Posted on 09/02/2008 12:29:26 PM PDT by BGHater
A type of DNA analysis that could vastly increase the power of genetic fingerprinting has been developed by US scientists.
They have found a way of picking an individual’s DNA out of a mixed sample – even when that sample is contaminated by the DNA of up to 200 others. The method works even when the DNA of interest is only 0.1 per cent of the sample. At present, it is hard for forensic investigators to detect an individual’s DNA if it constitutes less than 10 per cent of a mixture, or if many other people’s DNA is present.
This means that it is almost impossible to identify a suspect’s DNA out of, for example, a collection of skin cells from the handrail of a public staircase. The new method could resolve this problem.
“This is a potentially revolutionary advance in the field of forensics,” said the paper’s senior author, David W. Craig, the head of the research group.
The team, from the Translational Genomics Research Institute in Phoenix, Arizona, developed a mathematical technique to determine whether the DNA of an individual was present in a mixture. They tested their method successfully on a variety of samples they had mixed.
The main interest of the researchers is the use of genetics to diagnose and potentially treat neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease. As part of their work, they analyse single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs, pronounced “snips”) – points at which one genetic code varies from another by a single DNA letter.
The new research, published in the journal Public Library of Science Genetics, is an offshoot of this work.
SNP analysis characterises an individual’s DNA sequence, or genome, by focusing on half a million points at which one person’s DNA is most likely to differ from another.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
Wow. Impressive.
Time to wrap the house in tinfoil and never go out again. Big Brother is here.
.
This should help them solve those sex crimes that occur during orgies.
>>Time to wrap the house in tinfoil and never go out again. Big Brother is here.<<
That’s kinda what I was thinkin’.
Maybe I should buy stock in latex gloves...
OR resolve just who all Casey Anthony had sex with during the month of June............
This is nothing. In North Carolina they will prosecute you for rape even when they DON’T find your DNA.
That’s really a progressive state. . .
But at that level, what does the data tell you? If you open a convenience store door, you leave DNA on the handle. The real perp opens the same door, picks up your DNA from the door handle along with 30 other people's, and later leaves it on the murder weapon. He escapes.
You become a suspect because you were in the area of the crime (you were photographed at a nearby convenience store 15 minutes before the crime, and at a money machine earlier in the day). They know who you are because of the money machine transaction. You agree to a DNA test, because you KNOW you didn't do it! They specifically look for your DNA with this new, almost single-molecule system.
Now, they have you nearby, with your DNA on the murder weapon. Is that enough to convince a grand jury to indict?
Couldn’t have said it better...
Also, it does question who owns the DNA?
Is there any law stopping a Genetic Research company from swabbing and taking DNA samples from the Public Arena and looking for possible genetic traits that might be used in studies or possible medicines.
Interesting stuff.
Also, it does question who owns the DNA?
You don’t own your garbage after you throw it out. I suppose you don’t own your skin after you slough it off.
But wouldn't you have to explain why the presence of the suspect's DNA is important but the 200 other people's DNA isn't?
I know. They prosecuted me for fishing without a license, and I wasn't even fishing!..............
Does that allow someone to take DNA from a public setting and then clone it? Thus creating, say a Kobe Tai clone?
A prosecutor would certainly have to provide such an explanation ... but these researchers are not prosecutors. They're just developing a tool.
What we need is a copyright law on DNA - no joke.
A former girl friend and I were traveling through Maine. We stopped at a general store and saw an ad for a fishing license and boat rental. So we decided to go fishing. I bought a drop line, bobber, and a hook. We rowed out to the middle of the lake. We weren't serious about catching fish, we just wanted to lounge around on the lake. I tied the drop line to a stick and put a ball of cheese on the hook and began fishing.
A half hour goes by and a ranger on a boat pulls up to ask what we are doing. I pull my line out of the water with the cheese still on the hook. The Ranger gives me the hairy eyeball and asks me for my license. I show him the license. He looks at me for a moment, and then motors off shaking his head. We had a good laugh for the rest of the afternoon. And, no, fish don't bite cheese.
Cool. When will the ready-made versions be available at Target?
Hopefully, since they're already incarcerated, that rule won't apply to those who rape Mike Nifong.
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