Free Republic

Body identified as Sharon Lee Gallegos of New Mexico YAVAPAI COUNTY, AZ — Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office has released the identity of “Little Miss Nobody,” a young girl who remained nameless for more than six decades after her killing. The formerly nameless homicide victim whose body was found 62 years ago, was identified as Sharon Lee Gallegos of New Mexico, officials said Tuesday morning at a press conference in Prescott. Gallegos had reportedly been abducted from the alley behind her home in Alamogordo, New Mexico, on July 21, 1960, when she was 4 years old.

PRESCOTT, ARIZONA – (March 11, 2022) – Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office and partners including the National Center for Exploited and Missing Children (NCMEC); the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUS); Othram, the laboratory that conducted the DNA analysis; and a long list of others over the years, have finally identified the little girl whose remains were found in the desert in Yavapai County in 1960. The unidentified little girl who won the hearts of Yavapai County in 1960 and who occupied the minds and time of YCSO and partners for 62 years, will now rightfully be given her name...

A girl dubbed “Little Miss Nobody” has been identified some 62 years after her burned body was discovered buried in a remote Arizona desert, authorities said. The Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office will identify the girl Tuesday during a press conference at a community college in Prescott. “The unidentified little girl who won the hearts of Yavapai County in 1960 and who occupied the minds and time of YCSO and partner for 62 years will now rightfully be given her name back and will no longer need to be referred to as Little Miss Nobody,” sheriff officials said in a statement....

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC), without much fanfare, announced last month that samples obtained through PCR nasal swab tests have been sent to labs for genomic sequencing. With an unassuming Tweet, the CDC stated: “Remember that #COVID19 nose swab test you took? What happened to the swab? If it was processed with a PCR test, there’s a 10% chance that it ended up in a lab for genomic sequencing analysis.” What does that mean? Some individuals responded to that admission. “Well, this is a concerning development. Was the intent provided upfront in a disclosure? I would not have agreed...

When sequencing the genome of an extinct species, scientists face the challenge of working with degraded DNA, which doesn’t yield all the genetic information required to reconstruct a full genome of the extinct animal. With the Christmas Island rat, which is believed to have gone extinct because of diseases brought over on European ships, evolutionary geneticist Tom Gilbert at University of Copenhagen and his colleagues lucked out. Not only was the team able to obtain almost all of the rodent’s genome, but since it diverged from other Rattus species relatively recently, it shares about 95% of its genome with a...

We’re all human: Scientists create world’s biggest family tree linking 27 million people OXFORD, United Kingdom — The world’s biggest family tree linking around 27 million people has been created by scientists. The genetic model combines thousands of modern and prehistoric genomes, providing new insight into key events in human history. The breakthrough is a major step towards mapping the entirety of human relationships, with a single lineage that traces the ancestry of all people on Earth. The family tree also has widespread implications for medical research, identifying genetic predictors of disease. “We have basically built a huge family tree,...

A large study of more than 36,000 high-quality MRI brain scans has found that drinking four units of alcohol a day – two beers, or two glasses of wine – causes structural damage and brain volume loss equivalent to 10 years of aging. The science on alcohol consumption can be confusing and overwhelming. A quick scroll through our coverage over the years will tell you it directly causes cancer, but also reduces inflammation and helps to flush toxins out of the brain. It stunts growth in developing brains by nearly 50 percent, it permanently damages your DNA and is confidently...

(The Center Square) – A California lawmaker introduced a bill Monday that would prohibit local law enforcement agencies from retaining the DNA profiles collected from victims of sexual assault in databases used to identify crime suspects, to advance privacy protections for sexual assault survivors. Senate Bill 1228 was sponsored by Sen. Scott Wiener to ensure that a sexual assault victims’ DNA could not be used against them in the future. The bill would prohibit the DNA profiles collected from victims of sexual assault – including rape kits – to be used for any other purpose than identifying the perpetrator of...

Genome sequencing has given rise to a new generation of genetically engineered bioweapons carrying the potential to change the nature of modern warfare and defense. Introduction Biological weapons are designed to spread disease among people, plants, and animals through the introduction of toxins and microorganisms such as viruses and bacteria. The method through which a biological weapon is deployed depends on the agent itself, its preparation, its durability, and the route of infection. Attackers may disperse these agents through aerosols or food and water supplies (1). Although bioweapons have been used in war for many centuries, a recent surge in...

The messenger RNA (mRNA) from Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine is able to enter human liver cells and is converted into DNA, according to Swedish researchers at Lund University. The researchers found that when the mRNA vaccine enters the human liver cells, it triggers the cell’s DNA, which is inside the nucleus, to increase the production of the LINE-1 gene expression to make mRNA. The mRNA then leaves the nucleus and enters the cell’s cytoplasm where it translates into LINE-1 protein. A segment of the protein called the open reading frame-1, or ORF-1, then goes back into the nucleus where it attaches...

Pfizer Vaccine Goes Into Liver Cells and Is Converted to DNA: Study CLINICAL STUDY The messenger RNA (mRNA) from Pfizer’s COVID vaccine is able to enter human liver cells and is converted into DNA, according to Swedish researchers at Lund University. The researchers found that when the mRNA vaccine enters the human liver cells, it triggers the cell’s DNA, which is inside the nucleus, to increase the production of the LINE-1 gene expression to make mRNA. The mRNA then leaves the nucleus and enters the cell’s cytoplasm, where it translates into LINE-1 protein. A segment of the protein called the...

Fresh suspicion that Covid may have been tinkered with in a lab emerged today after scientists found genetic material owned by Moderna in the virus's spike protein. They identified a tiny snippet of code that is identical to part of a gene patented by the vaccine maker three years before the pandemic. It was discovered in SARS-CoV-2's unique furin cleavage site, the part that makes it so good at infecting people and separates it from other coronaviruses. The structure has been one of the focal points of debate about the virus's origin, with some scientists claiming it could not have...

Edward Morgan, 60, is charged with capital murder after DNA testing confirmed he matched the swab taken in the 1984 autopsy.After 38 years, an arrest has been made in the murder of a 21-year-old Cheektowaga woman. Mary Jane Thompson graduated from Cleveland Hill High School and moved to Dallas, TX to pursue her dreams. "She wanted to be a model," said Mary Jane's sister Donna Book. On February 13, 1984, her family said Mary Jane was going to a clinic for medical treatment in Dallas. "When she got there they were closed and then she had taken the bus back...

The San Francisco police crime lab has been entering sexual assault victims’ DNA profiles in a database used to identify suspects in crimes, District Attorney Chesa Boudin said Monday, an allegation that raises legal and ethical questions regarding the privacy rights of victims. Boudin said his office was made aware of the purported practice last week, after a woman’s DNA collected years ago as part of a rape exam was used to link her to a recent property crime. If DNA from a rape kit were used without consent for purposes other than investigating the underlying rape case, it may...

San Francisco’s police chief said he is investigating claims by the city’s district attorney that DNA collected from rape victims is being kept in a database and used to help identify them as possible suspects in crimes. The police crime lab has been entering DNA profiles from sexual assault victims into a suspect database, and one woman was recently arrested for a felony property crime based on her DNA collected years ago during a domestic violence-involved rape examination...

China is “developing the world’s largest bio database,” said Edward You, who is the U.S. national counterintelligence officer for Emerging and Disruptive Technologies. “Once they have access to your genetic data, it’s not something you can change like a pin code.” Racing to dominate the bioeconomy, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is compiling a massive database of medical, health, and genetic information from people around the world, including Americans. The CCP enlists the help of private companies to aid in gathering genetic data, which can be combined with top military supercomputing capabilities, to discover genetic weaknesses in a population. Bioweapons...

News AnalysisChina is “developing the world’s largest bio database,” said Edward You, who is the U.S. national counterintelligence officer for Emerging and Disruptive Technologies. “Once they have access to your genetic data, it’s not something you can change like a pin code.”Racing to dominate the bioeconomy, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is compiling a massive database of medical, health, and genetic information from people around the world, including Americans.The CCP enlists the help of private companies to aid in gathering genetic data, which can be combined with top military supercomputing capabilities, to discover genetic weaknesses in a population. Bioweapons can...

It was back in 1991 when Jeanine and Mike Harvey went to Dr. Nicholas Spirtos, then the chief of the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at Summa Akron City hospital, now Summa Health System, for help conceiving a child. But that DNA test Harvey Galloway took would reveal a shocking mix-up. Mrs. Harvey’s egg was fertilized not by her husband’s sperm, but by another man, also a patient of Dr. Spirtos, as stated in the lawsuit filed Wednesday in the Court of Common Pleas in Summit County. Harvey Galloway recently discovered her biological father is not Italian, but part...

Investigators used a third-party DNA database to find genetic information that resulted in an arrestA Colorado man who was suspected of killing a teen girl in San Francisco more than 40 years ago was charged with her murder following new DNA evidence, according to prosecutors. Mark Stanley Personette, 76, was arraigned in court Thursday after being arrested in December in Denver after the San Francisco police, the FBI, and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s office worked together to investigate the 1978 death of Marissa Harvey, who was 15 years old at the time, according to the Associated Press. San Francisco District...

Virginia Beach police used forged documents that linked people's DNA to a crime to get them to confess or cooperate with investigators, Virginia's outgoing attorney general announced Wednesday. The city's police department has changed its policy in the wake of the state's probe, Attorney General Mark Herring said in a statement. In a separate statement, the city said it had ended the practice in May after conducting its own investigation, but called the tactic legal. Virginia Beach police serve a city of about 450,000 people along the state's coast. Officers used fake reports purporting to be from the Virginia Department...